Harry Potter and the Last Heir
by duffman669
Summary: Harry Potter year 7, just after the events in HBP. I'm going to use hints from all eight books thats right 8 and any other hints I can find from JKR herself to get as close to what she's going to put in the real 7th book. I think I'm doing a good job at g
1. Chapter 1

I do not own the rights to any of the Harry Potter characters or places. The aim of this fan fiction is to come as close to what JKR will be writing in the 7th book by mixing rumors, hints from interviews, and foreshadowing in the previous 6 books. It will have to include a lot of my own personal ideas and speculations. It wont be as long as the actual book but I think he will still be quite extensive and I hope you enjoy.

This will probably be the shortest chapter, I just wanted to get things started, I've already wrote a few more and they're alot longer.

Chapter 1

Harry was cold with sweat when he woke up; looking over at the clock beside his bed, he saw that it was two in the morning. This was no surprise to him; he had been jerked out of sleep every night since he returned to the Dursley's. Nightmares of all the people he had lost constantly repeating in his head, he saw Cedric lying lifeless next to the Triwizard Cup, he saw an empty black veil, he saw Dumbledore falling to the ground, and he was always helpless to save them. Always just out of reach.

This dream had been different though, he had had dreams like this before, they were due to the connection he and Lord Voldemort shared. This usually meant that they were real, but he silently prayed that this one would not come to be. He could not handle such a loss.

A horrible thought passed through his head: what if this was not a premonition but a vision of something that has just occurred. He suddenly sat upright as if there was something he could do at that moment to prevent it. It was then that he realized he had been writing a letter when he fell asleep. He looked down at what he had written so far:

Dear Ron,

I hope all is well at the Burrow. Things have been dull here and I will be glad when I see you next month. I hope the plans have been going well for Bill and Fleur, I am glad to hear that she and your mom are still getting along well. Not much progress with my studies but I'm sure all I need is a bit more practice.

Most of what he had written was not even true. He had not wanted to right anything important in case the letter was intercepted. Truthfully, the Weasley's were all staying at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Harry was very pleased when they were convinced to move there, as he was concerned for their protection. Nobody, especially Fleur, wanted the wedding to be held there, nobody wanted to be there at all, but they had all felt the loss of protection after Dumbledore's death. The tension had certainly increased in the weeks since it happened. Whatever constraint Voldemort had shown before, he now felt free to do whatever he wished. The Daily Prophet, under orders from the Ministry, tried to make things sound better than they actually were but even they had to report some of the killings, which Harry estimated had reached almost a murder a day.

Harry suddenly realized that it had indeed only been a few days since he returned to the Dursley's. It had seemed like so much longer to him, with the constant fear of attack, willingly confined to his room at all times, always on alert. He knew that until now he had always felt safe knowing that Dumbledore was looking out for him. Despite all the danger he had faced he felt that somewhere in the back of his head that if he was in any real danger Dumbledore would appear at his side to save him. He would never feel that way again. He consoled himself with the fact that the second part of his letter was also a lie, he would not have to wait a month to see them, he would be leaving for number twelve Grimmauld Place the very next day.

The others had wondered why he had even returned to the Dursley's at all. Harry did not have an answer for them because he genuinely didn't know. All he knew was that Dumbledore had expressed a wish that he return to them one last time. He had explained to Harry that there was protection at number 4 Privet Drive as long as he could call it home, but with Dumbledore gone he had been unable to shake the feeling that his protection went with him.

His thoughts lingered back on his dream, the last part of his letter was telling of his progress with Occlumency. Although Dumbledore had suspected that Voldemort was trying to close the connection they shared, Snape still held a power over Harry while his mind was open to him. If he hoped to defeat them both he would need to learn to close it, although after his dream it appeared that his efforts were not going well. He decided that finishing his letter might calm his worries. He dipped his quill into a bottle of ink beside the paper and continued: "Just checking to make sure that everyone is okay and in good health." He knew he had not made this sound as casual as he would have liked but it was much better than what he was truly feeling: He hoped that nobody was dead. As he tied the letter to the leg of his snowy owl Hedwig and watched her fly into the night he relived the nightmare in his head. He could see it very clearly, his dream of a giant misty skull with a snake protruding from his mouth hovering menacingly over one of his favorite places in the world, the Burrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Harry was not able to return to sleep and instead decided to pack his trunk for the trip. Most of what he owned was still in his trunk, his cauldron, his scales, a messy pile of robes, his prized firebolt, and an array of wizarding items he had collected over the years. His books were in piles around his room, he had been scanning them for any spell that might help him in his upcoming tasks. He still kept his wand and invisibility cloak on him at all times.

As the day grew on into night, he expected the Order would be arriving soon, but they had not said how they would be getting there. Harry supposed they would use brooms as they had two years ago. As he got his things together, he remembered the Dursley's, who would now be downstairs for supper. He had not told them when he would be leaving and he did not think they would care anyway, but they were still his Aunt and Uncle, and this would probably be the last time he would see them.

He rolled his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage down the stairs and into the dining room where Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley had just sat down to eat.

"I'm going to be leaving now." Harry said, feeling awkward.

"You don't expect a ride anywhere do you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, not looking up from his meal. Dudley grinned slightly, he had already finished he own plate and was now grabbing Harry's without hesitation.

"No, I don't need one. But er, I'll be coming of age soon so I wont be back next summer." Harry was beginning to feel even more awkward, he couldn't remember what had made him confront them like this.

Neither Uncle Vernon nor Dudley was even looking at him, only his aunt seemed to be paying him any attention. Harry looked at her and saw that instead of he usual look of disgust, she did seemed concerned about something.

"I don't want any of your kind in my house, if you plan to be picked up by anyone you do it outside, we've had too many _incidents_" said his uncle, still not looking up. Harry knew his uncle must be reliving all his encounters with wizards he has had since Harry first attended Hogwarts; Hagrid giving Dudley a tail, the Weasley's blowing up their parlor, Dumbledore bewitching wine glasses to climb up their heads.

"er, right," Harry was feeling very uncomfortable and wanted nothing more than to leave, but he still felt like he needed to say something to them. "Well thank you, I guess, erm, bye."

He walked away from the table still expecting them to say something. He knew they had never cared when he left for school each year but this had to be different, they would never see him again. He took one last look at his uncle, who merely turned a page of his paper, and left the kitchen. Although Harry knew he was no safer inside the house, he felt more comfortable waiting for his party at the door. After another half hour Harry heard the cracks of many people apparating and he opened the front door expectantly looking around for the order.

Instead, he heard a scream from inside the house and Uncle Vernon's booming voice yelling "WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?"

Harry rushed toward the dining room door but was shoved aside by the enormous Dudley who had run from the room horrorstruck. Upon entering the room, he saw Professor McGonagall standing beside his aunt who had screamed and dropped her glass, which had smashed and scattered everywhere.

"Terribly sorry to intrude, my name is Minerva McGonagall; I'm here to collect Harry."

Harry's uncles looked from him to McGonagall, and after deciding that Harry would be the lesser threat rounded on him. "You know this, this woman?"

"Yes, she's," Harry paused at the words, "she the Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"Now wait a second," shouted Uncle Vernon who now rose a bit higher, feeling he understood the situation a bit more, "That ruddy, that crackpot who collected you last year, he was the headmaster of your school."

"Albus Dumbledore was no crackpot!" shouted Professor McGonagall, standing right up to Harry's Uncle, "He was the greatest wizard who ever lived!"

Harry took a step back; he had never seen McGonagall shout like this. He had seen her angry, but she had still maintained her temper to an impressive degree. This was the first time Harry had considered how Dumbledore's death might have affected others. She had surely known their old headmaster much longer than he had and as it seems been very close to him.

Harry's new headmistress seemed to regain her composure as she said calmly, "Well, me and Harry need to be going."

"So, you'll be taking him for good then. He won't be back at our doorstep again?" asked Vernon nervously.

"Harry is your nephew, any normal uncle would be sad to let him go. I never wanted Harry to be sent here and it appears I was right. You are wicked people and yes, after 16 years I am glad to take him away from you, _forever_."

Professor McGonagall stormed out of the room and Harry followed closely.

"Ready to go Potter?" asked McGonagall, now very calm.

"Yes, professor."

"I have come to collect you myself to tell you that you have been made Head Boy this year."

"What?" said Harry, who although he had no plans to return to Hogwarts, was slightly happy to hear this. "I'm sorry but I won't be going back to Hogwarts."

"Don't be ridiculous Potter, you need your education."

"I wish I could but, well I have things I need to do." Harry had not shared with Professor McGonagall the task that Dumbledore had set for him.

"I am fully aware of what needs to be done, but this task is not yours alone. You will have help, you will need help." McGonagall seemed concerned for Harry as she looked down at him. "and not just from your friends Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, the entire Order is behind you."

"Professor, you know about," and Harry lowered his voice slightly as he said it, "the horcruxes? But how?"

"The previous headmaster has always had ways of reaching their successor."

"Does that mean, I mean, would it be possible for me to reach him?" Harry asked enthusiastically.

Harry's new Headmistress frowned slightly, "It is not generally accepted but due to the circumstances I suppose you would be able to reach him. _If_ you return to school."

"Well, I'll think about returning, but professor, I don't want to be Head Boy. Make Ron, he deserves it more than me, he was the Prefect."

"Are you sure Potter, it is a great honor that has never yet been turned down."

"I don't want to be made Head Boy if I have to leave the school, it wouldn't be right."

"Very well then Potter," McGonagall said not at all put back, "are you ready to go then."

"Yes, how will we be going?" Harry asked, but at that point a jet of fire erupted over his head and Fawkes the Phoenix appeared, swooping down to rest on his shoulder.

"Fawkes will look over you until you have passed your apparation test. You need merely call on him and he will take you wherever you need to go. Good luck Harry, I will see you on the first of September." She said and before Harry could ask anything she apparated and was gone.

Harry was not sure how Fawkes would transport him, he hoped it would be something like floo powder. Fawkes started to take off and Harry grabbed her tail, as he had seen Dumbledore do two years ago, but before he could say any destination, Harry felt Fawkes grow hot and fire engulfed them both.


	3. Chapter 3

I think I had a bit of trouble making this chapter sound okay. If you like it give me some reviews and I'll keep going.

Chapter 3

Harry swirled around, engulfed in flames, but he did not get burnt. The fire dissolved around him and he found himself on the familiar street of Grimmauld Place. Harry rushed down the street, stood between number 11 and 13, and thought to himself, "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve Grimmauld Place, London."

The house of his dead godfather Sirius squeezed itself into the space, pushing the other two houses to the side. It was a dark and gloomy house that Harry did not want to enter, but it was his now. If the Order still needed it as their headquarters then Harry would have to ignore the terrifying memories the ancient house brought him. It was the cold emptiness of this house that had forced Sirius to leave and be killed at the hands of his cousin, Bellatrix.

Although Harry was not looking forward to reentering the Black's house, he did not feel right standing on the street, and therefore made his way up the walk. Not knowing whether he should simply enter or if he should knock Harry chose the latter. The knocker was a large silver serpent that felt much heavier than if looked. After a few moments of silence Harry realized that there may not be anyone in the house, after all, the only frequent inhabitant previously had been his godfather. He then chose to open the door but he realized that it had no knob or handle, not even a keyhole. Finally remembering, Harry took out his wand and after tapping the door, heard the clicks of many locks and it swung open for him.

The hallway was very dark and silent. Someone must surely be there waiting for him. They must have known he was coming. He strained his ear for a hint of sound, looking around up the staircase. Without paying attention to where he was going he knocked into a curtain, which swung open to reveal a very angry looking old woman.

"_You, Filthy Boy! You think you have inherited the Honorable House of Black! Get out of my house! Return my servant!"_

At this moment, the dining room door opened and the Imperturbable Charm lifted. Harry could now hear a large group of people in the next room, but the meeting was paused while everyone looked around to see the cause of the noise. Mrs. Weasley had left the room and been startled to see Harry who was now trying to force the curtains of Mrs. Black's portrait closed.

"_The wretched Muggle-lover! And the hideous half-breed! Befouling my halls! Leave at once!" _

Harry turned again to see his old professor, Remus Lupin standing at the doorway. With his help, Mrs. Weasley was able to slam the curtain shut and the wailing ceased.

"Hello Harry," said Lupin tiredly, "We weren't sure when you would be arriving."

"It's good to see you Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, greeting him as though she had not seen him all year, although she had seen him only a week ago.

"Now that you're here, you should accompany us back to the meeting," said Lupin with a slightly proud look at Harry.

"No Remus, can't it, can't all that wait," said Mrs. Weasley with a scared look on her face.

"You know that this must be done as quick as possible," said Lupin.

"What? What's going on?" Harry asked, not understanding what seemed to be worrying Mrs. Weasley so much.

"Come with us Harry," said Lupin, steering Harry into the room.

Harry had known it as the dining room of the house but it seems much larger and the table which used to sit in the middle was gone. Instead were rows of long benches encircling a sort of podium. The room was full of witches and wizards, some that Harry recognized, some he had never seen before. He immediately noticed that Hagrid was there, sitting in the back row and giving him a wave. A large amount of people he recognized from the picture Moody had shown him two years ago. Mrs. Weasley joined the rest of the Weasley family in the front row.

He headed towards them but Lupin held his shoulder, directing him into the middle. He got very worried now, looking at the podium. Was he expected to give some sort of speech? Professor McGonagall had not mentioned anything. He tried to think what a large group of wizards wanted him to tell them. Luckily, Lupin motioned towards a small bench behind the podium where his friends Ron and Hermione were seated. They both looked as puzzled as Harry and he thought that they must not know why they were here either.

"Harry!" Hermione called nervously, while Ron nudged over to make room for him. Sitting down, Harry felt a bit more comfortable. He was back with his two best friends in the world, and he didn't have to make a speech.

"Oh Harry we've been so worried. I mean there was no reason to be of course you're perfectly protected at your Uncles house but, oh, you just never know," said Hermione very quickly. She avoided saying that the reason everyone felt so worried was that Dumbledore was gone. Harry had of course not felt protected at the Dursley's at all.

To avoid thinking about his old headmaster he turned to Ron and asked; "What's going on? Why'd they bring us here?"

"Dunno mate, they just told us that we needed to be involved in the next meeting. Mums been in a right state about it too," said Ron, looking around at all the wizards in the order.

"Yeah, she said something to Lupin earlier, wanted to wait or something. But Lupin said it needed to be done right away," said Harry, who still had no idea what "it" could possibly be.

"Oh those two have been on about it all week. There was a big meeting that they kept us out of, and even since Mum and Lupin have been having these little rows about it. Of course they stop once they see that we're listening so we've no clue what they keep going on about," said Ron, and Harry was pleased to see that Ron was as confused as he was.

"What do you think it could be that involves us?" asked Hermione, who was now looking a bit pale.

Before they could make any guesses ashort man in a top hat, who Harry knew as Dedalus Diggle,stepped up to the podium and the room grew silent. "We decided on all this last week," he began in a very squeaky voice, "so lets just get to it then. After Hogwarts was infiltrated by Death Eaters using both teacher and student spies, we have decided that it will be necessary to put additional members of the Order in the school. As Headmistress McGonagall had trouble filling various positions in her staff this will mean those positions will be filled by the Order. I myself will be filling in as the Transfiguration teacher."

"Why isn't McGonagall teaching?" asked Ron.

"Oh Ron, shes the Headmistress, I expect she'll be far too busy. But he'll be fascinating, we're sure to learn loads from him," said Hermione happily.

"So that means that more of the teachers left this year. Who would want to leave?" asked Harry quietly.

"Dunno mate. Who do you reckon Hermione?" asked Ron, looking over at her as though she already knew.

"We also,"Diggle continued, "feel the need to provide protection at a different level." He was looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione now and Harry began to feel very nervous. "Although some of you don't fully agree with this decision," as he said this Harry saw Mrs. Weasley cross her arms and purse her lips tightly. "It has been decided that three students will be made members of the Order of the Phoenix to protect the students of Hogwarts."

All eyes were on Harry, Ron and Hermione now. Ron seemed very pleased and triumphant with the decision; they had all wanted to be part of the Order for sometime. Hermione smiled nervously, although Harry could tell she was a bit scared at the thought. Harry was not sure what to feel. It was true he had desired to be a member of the Order. That was back when it contained Dumbledore, and Sirius. Now it seemed like they would be expecting him to stay at Hogwarts and protect everyone, and Harry was not sure he could.

Lupin pulled Harry to his feet and Ron and Hermione nervously stood up as well.Diggle stood in front of them as everyone in the hall peered at them anxiously. "Do you swear," he said, his voice even squeakier, "to commit to the mission of the Order of the Phoenix. To put that mission above all else. To, if necessary, die for that mission." At the last part Harry heard Mrs. Weasley hiccup slightly. "and to never divulge the secrets of the Order," Diggle concluded.

Ron did not seem as anxious as before, perhaps the realization that this war may take their lives had set in a bit. He still enthusiastically said, "Yes!"

Hermione looked over at Harry with a slight frown, but then put on a determined face and said, "Yes."

Harry saw his two best friends make the commitment. He was the reason they were doing this. If he hadn't got them involved they would never had to make this vow. They would follow him through anything, simply out of friendship. While Harry was willing to his own life to stop Voldemort, he didn't want to risk theirs. With a grim look on his face he looked into Diggle's eyes and said, "Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Once the meeting had ended, Harry followed Ron and Hermione up to the room in silence. He could tell they were both thinking about what this meant, the Order recognized that it was their duty to stop Voldemort.

"Wow, we're real members now, aren't we," said Ron, the color had returned to him and he looked a bit happier with the situation.

"You're mum didn't seem too happy, I suppose she's scared isn't she," said Hermione slowly. Harry looked at her and saw that she too seemed a bit scared. "I mean, not that there's anything to be scared about is there, everything will be fine."

Before Harry could reassure her, they walked into their room and saw Ginny sitting on the bed. Now being the only one in the house who was not a member of the Order, she must get very lonely during the meetings.

"What happened, why did you get to go to the meeting?" Ginny asked, looking at Ron. She was deliberately avoiding Harry's eyes.

"We've been made members of the Order," said Ron.

"You? Why haven't I been made a member?"

"You're too young, it's dangerous," said Ron, reminding Harry of Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm sick of everyone telling me what I can and can't do! Stop protecting me!" she said, and although she still had not looked at Harry, he knew she was talking about him. He had broken up with her at the end of the school year to protect her. It was still one of the hardest things he had had to do. He didn't feel right about leading Ron and Hermione into danger, but they had proven they could take care of themselves. But, he thought, hadn't Ginny? She was with them at the Department of Mysteries, and she helped defend the school just last year. It's different with her, he thought, I care too much about her.

"I'm still wondering why they've made us members," said Hermione, deep in thought. Harry just realized they were still in the room with him, the thought of Ginny had removed the meeting from his thoughts.

"They told us, that Diggle bloke. It's because You-Know-Who had Malfoy, and I suppose they think he might have more spies," said Ron, sitting in the spot Ginny had been earlier.

"Oh Ron, you don't really think they'd need us for that. From what it sounds, they'll have plenty of members of the Order as teachers. I expect they'll have other reasons," said Hermione, sitting next to him.

"What do you think Harry? Harry? What's wrong?" Ron was looking at Harry now; he had kept his head down throughout the conversation.

"Is it Ginny?" Hermione asked calmly and Harry looked up at her.

"Yeah, what's up with her? She's been really sad lately, hasn't talked much since we got here. Figured seeing you would cheer her up a bit." Ron said, still looking at Harry.

"Well we've broken it off," said Harry, feeling a bit ashamed.

"Oh Harry you didn't. But why?" Hermione asked, with a concerned look on her face. Harry recognized this face whenever he made some sort of mistake with girls that Hermione clearly considered obvious.

"You both know how dangerous it's going to be. I don't want her involved in all that, she's got to stay out of danger," said Harry. It was a decision he still did not want to make, but he knew that it was necessary.

"Do you honestly think that she won't try to get involved? She takes after Fred and George mate, we can't really tell her what to do," Ron said. He seemed a bit angrier now, he had approved of them getting together and Harry supposed he was not happy to hear Harry had ended it.

"Well I think you're being stupid, but its your business," said Hermione, getting up.

"Where you off to then?" asked Ron.

"In case you hadn't noticed its past midnight, I'm off to bed."

Ron yawned and after realizing how late it was, climbed into bed. "Well, night Harry."

"Night." Harry was not feeling very tired, though. After Ron had fallen asleep he got out of bed, put his shoes back on and left the room. He didn't really have anywhere to go, he just didn't want to lie there, but he headed for the kitchen. He had almost entered when he heard voices inside, and stopped at the door to listen.

"Now they'll go off on some dangerous trip and get themselves killed." It was Mrs. Weasley's voice but it seemed shrill, as though she was crying.

It was Lupin's voice who answered, but far from comforting, it seemed hard and frustrated as though they had had this discussion before, "They would have gone off anyway. According to McGonagall, Harry wasn't even planning to return to Hogwarts."

"But why? What are they trying to do?"

"Minerva never said, but she did say that they would need all of us in some way."

"But why did you have to make them members of the Order?"

"It will give them more of a purpose if they know that we are behind them. Even if they don't want to tell us what they must do, at least they'll know they have our support."

"A purpose for what? They shouldn't be involved at all, they have been through too much already," cried Mrs. Weasley, who seemed to be in fits of despair.

"If Dumbledore felt that they must be involved, then we must trust them," shouted Lupin. Mrs. Weasley seemed to take it as a sign that the argument was over because she said nothing more, but Harry could still hear her sobbing.

He back away from the door slowly, turning to walk quietly back up the stairs. Careful not to wake Ron, he got back into his bed but still could not sleep. He had seen Mrs. Weasley's worst fears two years ago when she tried to get rid of a boggart. He distinctly remembered seeing his and Ron's dead body lying on the floor. Those feelings must be even greater now that they faced such immediate danger. None of them knew about the prophecy, about the horcruxes. He felt very grateful to Lupin and Mrs. Weasley for supporting him through something they did not understand. They were right, he thought, they could all die. He knew because of the prophecy that he would have to try to kill Voldemort, but it never foretold of who would defeat who.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Harry managed to fall asleep, deep in thought. When he woke up, Ron was already dressed, anxious to get downstairs.

"Cummon Harry, I'm starving, I didn't eat at all last night."

"Why not?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"We were so nervous about that meeting, they never told us why we had to go. I don't expect Hermione had much to eat either."

Sure enough, when they finally made it into the kitchen, Hermione was sitting with a stack of toast adding liberal amounts of jam. "Everyone else's already finished, but I've saved you some." She pushed a plate in front of them and disappeared behind the paper.

Harry remembered Ron's old routine of asking whether anyone they knew was dead. Harry expected he had stopped since the deaths had mounted to such a serious rate. From what the Prophet reported, and he knew that Scrimgeour must be trying to keep them quiet, there had been more than half a dozen deaths since they had left school, and an unreported amount of Muggles had died.

"So where had everyone else gone to?" Harry asked, looking around as though they were huddled in a corner somewhere.

"Planning for the wedding I 'spect," said Ron a bit huffily, " Fleur's been mental lately, bossing us all around and going crazy over the smallest things."

"Ron, you'll never understand women," said Hermione.

"Well that's why I've got you then isn't it. So what's wrong with her?" said Ron looking up at her.

Hermione scoffed but when she continued it was with a slight grin on her face, "It's her wedding, she wants it to be perfect. All girls dream about having the perfect wedding."

"But she's…alright, right? I mean she hasn't gone crazy has she?" said Harry in a fearful tone, knowing that he would probably be expected to help.

As if in answer Fleur stormed into the room, " 'Arry, how good it is to see you," she said rather hurriedly. "I need you three to help me with the table arrangements." She held up what looked like a bouquet of flaming roses, but the flame was in different, vibrant colors and it kept changing. Harry noticed that the flame did not burn the roses, but seemed to compliment them rather well.

"Oh, its gorgeous," said Hermione staring at it dreamily.

"Yes, it 'eez a zimple spell, but I vill need several hundred."

"Oh I'm sorry," said Harry, glad for an excuse, "I'm not of age yet, can't do magic."

Fleur looked slightly disappointed but then turned on Ron and Hermione, "Then 'eet will be just the two of you."

As Harry left the room, he saw Fleur demonstrate how to create the arrangement, and another bunch of roses set fire. He climbed back up the steps toward his bedroom but he collided with Ginny, who had been walking down the stairs. He hoped that she did not want to discuss them; he could not handle hurting her again. He knew he would have to say something, though.

"H-Hey," he said nervously.

"Hi," she said, finally looking up at him.

"How come you aren't down with everyone else?" He said, struggling for something to say.

"Oh I've been up in my room," she said, and Harry noticed that her eyes looked slightly blotched, "Fleur's been stressing out a lot lately."

"Yeah. How are Fleur and Bill doing?"

"Good," she said looking back down, "You can tell they really love each other, no matter what."

"Listen Ginny-" he said slowly.

"Yeah?"

"I…I'm, sorry."

To his surprise Ginny wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Harry had expected her to run of very upset, he was glad at this change and held her closely.

"I wish I understood why you need to do this," she said quietly, "We can hide it from them."

The thought had occurred to Harry many times, but Voldemort was an excellent Legilimens. "I wish we could, but he would know, he can just…feel it."

"What is it that you have to do?" she asked, pulling away from him slightly to look up at him.

"I have to kill him," he said, looking into her eyes.

"Why? Why can't we just run from it all? You shouldn't have to do anything."

"I'm the only one that can. There… there was a prophecy made about us."

"But it was destroyed!" she said, looking terrified, "We never heard it."

"Dumbledore knew it, he told me," he said, it was time for him to explain it all to her, she need to know. He could not tell her about the horcruxes, he didn't want to give Voldemort more of an incentive to take her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They ate dinner a bit earlier than Harry had expected. Everyone around the table looked a bit nervous for some reason. Bill was eating a large steak with his hands. His scars looked like there had been a great improvement but they were still as deep as ever. His hair looked much shaggier; his ponytail had turned into a grizzly mane. Fleur did not seem to mind, it had been Mrs. Weasley's fear that she would leave him after the attack. On the contrary, she sat next to him wiping his mouth affectionately as juices dripped down.

When it reached midday, Lupin stood up and said, "I think we'd better be going now."

Harry looked around to see who he was talking to and saw Bill nod in grim agreement. As they left the room, Harry turned to Ron and asked, "Where are they going."

"It's the first full moon since the attack, Lupin's got to take Bill somewhere safe I suppose."

"It's just a precaution," Hermione added, "This has never happened to anyone before but they don't think there will be any _changing_."

Harry was suddenly struck with an idea. "I'll talk to you later," he said, and got up to follow them out the door.

He caught them in the hallway and asked, "Where are you going to go?"

"We'll head up to the mountains, find somewhere secluded," Lupin answered. "Just in case," he added, more to Bill than to Harry.

"Well, you could go to Godric's Hollow," Harry said calmly, "and maybe I could come along."

"Why do you want to go there?" Lupin questioned.

"Well I thought it would be good to see," Harry paused, not sure what he really expected to see there, "the house. But I haven't a clue how to get there."

"If, if something does happen, Harry," Lupin said carefully, "It could be dangerous."

"Well you'll be there, and I know to just stay out of the way," he said hopefully.

Lupin stopped to think, it seemed as though he didn't think it was a very good idea. "Okay," he finally said, "But you have to promise to stay out of the way. Hold on to my arm."

He held out his arm and Harry took hold of it. He felt Lupin turn and there was a great pressure on him from all sides. The feeling of being sucked through a drinking straw subsided, and he found himself outside a very old, very tattered house. It looked as though it was ready to come down, most of the windows had been smashed, the right half looked like it had set fire at one point, and an entire section of the roof seemed to be ripped apart.

Seeing that Harry noticed all the damage Lupin said, "Nobody has entered this house in sixteen years Harry. Protections similar to that of Grimmauld Place were put on it. To this day, not even the ministry knows where to find it."

"So it's the same as it was that night?" Harry asked, looking through the broken windows into the rooms.

"Yes, I expect not much has changed. But we did search it, after…" He let it trail off, not able to find anything to say. "We did didn't find anything. I hope you aren't expecting much."

They walked up to the door, which had the distinct look as if it was knocked down then propped back up. Bill remained quiet, with a look of deep thought on his face. Harry look at it hesitantly, then moved toward it. He tried to swing it carefully to the side but it slammed hard onto the floor. Dust rose up from the floor, then slowly settled back down. The first room was a large sitting room with a couch that had been blasted in two. There was a large pile of singed wood blocking the next door, but they were able to step through a large hole made in the wall. This room had what Harry assumed to be a fireplace at some point; it was now a pile of stone and rubble.

Growing anxious now, Harry moved on to the next room. Something must be here, he thought, I know I'll find something. He finally found the stairs and they began to climb them.

"Harry we don't have much more time," said Lupin anxiously.

Harry did not answer though, he had reached the top of the stairs and seen a room with the door blown off with great force. He walked toward the room slowly, with Bill and Lupin following behind. In the room was a large wooden cot that must have been Harry's. It was rotten and soggy as though it had been rained on. Harry looked up and saw that the ceiling of almost the entire room had been ripped off, he had a clear view of the moon.

He looked over at Lupin and Bill fearing the worst. Bill had dove to the side to avoid Lupin, who had begun transforming into the beast.

"Don't worry, I've taken a pot-AHHH" Lupin let out a scream of pain. He had mentioned to Harry how painful it could be but he had never expected the looks of anguish on his face.

Harry looked over at Bill who had a look of terror on his face. Seeing what can happen when a werewolf transforms must being horrifying for him, he thought. There had been no change in Bill however, and they both felt a bit more relieved while watching Lupin complete his transformation.

"I guess there was nothing to fear at all," Bill said, no longer looking gloomy or depressed. For the first time since Harry had returned to Grimmauld Place, Bill smiled wide. "I can't wait to tell Fle-" but he stopped mid sentence, falling to his knees.

"What's happening?" Harry asked, backing up a bit. "Something's gone wrong," he shouted to Lupin, who had become a hideous monster, but Harry could still tell was himself.

Harry heard a loud rip and looked towards Bill. The back of his robes had split open and he seemed much hairier than normal. He looked up at them and Harry gasped. His face was still the same, but he had grown long fang-like teeth and his eyes were a wicked yellow. He rose off the ground onto his legs and stood almost seven feet tall. His hands had become large and hairy, with enormous claws extending from each finger.

"Bill! Can you hear me? Are you, yourself?" Harry said, praying that Bill still had control.

In answer he raised one of his monstrous claws and swung it at Harry, nearly missing and destroying Harry's crib instead. Harry heard a loud howl from Lupin and saw him lunge at Bill, sending them both through the wall. They fell to the ground below and Bill ran off, followed by Lupin.

What should I do, Harry thought, I can't leave without them. But I can't go after them.

Taking one last look at his old room, he left and ran down the stairs. Stepping over the fallen door he found himself back into the dark streets of Godric's Hollow. Not sure whether to follow or stay in the empty street, Harry decided to walk slowly in the direction he had seen them run. The forest was extremely dark, and Harry was not able to see a think through all the trees. He had his wand but he didn't dare risk another hearing at the ministry simply for using "Lumos."

After blinding walking for what seemed like ages, Harry found himself in a dimly lit clearing. After a moment he realized it was not merely a clearing, but a cemetery. Would his parents be buried here? He looked around at the many gravestones, he could tell the graveyard was very old. One grave marker, Bowman Wright, was dated back to the 14th century. His attention was drawn to an enormous monument that looked like a stone hut. It was almost as big as number 4 Privet Drive, he thought. He silently wondered who the grave could belong too. It was engraved with symbols that Harry did not understand. In the middle was a large stone that seemed to enclose the entrance, to either side were large stone lions.

He knelt down to examine one of the lions and heard a low growl. Was there some sort of spell put on them? They seemed so real, he could almost hear their low course breathing. Harry suddenly realized that the noises were not coming from the lions, but from behind him. He turned around to become face to face with Bill. His face was even more distorted, is had large scratches on it and he was dripping was looked a great deal like blood from his mouth. Harry stood up and tried to back away slowly.

Bill bared his teeth, which had become large fangs covered in blood, and advanced on Harry. What would Harry become if he were bitten by only a half-werewolf? He pointed his wand at Bill but hesitated. Fawkes had appeared in a burst of flame and clawed at Bill with his talons. Harry took this chance to run, jumping over the stone lion he raced through the trees. He turned to see Bill swipe the Phoenix aside and speed after Harry. Harry turned and continued to run but knew that the half-wolf must be gaining on him. He turned to see him only a few feet away and threw his wand up, having to finally attack.

Lupin lunged out of the trees and tackled Bill to the ground. They rolled across the grassy forest, clawing and biting each other, until separating. The both got to their feet and circled each other. Lupin, as a full werewolf, surpassed Bill in size and strength, but was not as fast as Bill. The half-wolf lunged at him, sinking his teeth into his shoulder. Lupin kicked him off and sent him flying into a tree.

Bill hung on to one of the branches and began climbing. Once near the top he was able to leap from tree to tree, using his claws to grab on. Lupin raced after him on the ground, keeping up with some difficulty.

It was time for Harry to go, he realized, as Fawkes fly towards him. He grabbed the Phoenix's tail and felt the warm flames surround him.


	7. Chapter 7

I added like one extra sentence to chapter 6, if you want to reread it so you dont miss anything. If you like where I'm taking it then give some reviews.

Chapter 7

As if reading Harry's mind, Fawkes had brought Harry to his room in Grimmauld Place. He did not want to explain what had happened, especially not to Fleur. Would she still marry Bill? She didn't seem to mind his scars, but this was a bit different.

As Harry lay in bed thinking, the door opened and Ron entered. He looked up at Harry surprised, "Harry, where've you been?"

"I went to Godric's Hollow, to see my parent's house," he hoped Ron would not bring up Bill or Lupin.

"Did you find anything? Any clues about you-know-who? Or the Horcruxes?" he asked, sitting down on his bed but no longer looking tired.

"Harry?" The door had opened and Hermione walked through, "We've been worried about you, where have you been?"

"He went to his parent's house," said Ron.

"Without us? I thought we were going to go together," she said with a disappointed look.

"I just needed to see it on my own."

"Wait a minute, how did you get there? Oh Harry you didn't apparate without a license did you?" Hermione said, looking a bit scared.

"No," Harry said, not able to avoid it any longer, "I went with Lupin… and Bill."

"You were with them?" Ron asked, sitting up, "What happened to Bill?"

"Everyone's been really worried," Hermione said, "They should have been back by now shouldn't they?"

"He…he changed."

"He turned into a werewolf?" Ron asked, horrified.

"No, well not exactly," Harry said, trying to think of how to explain what Bill became, "He didn't look like Lupin when he changes, he was a lot more human."

"Well we knew that if he did change it wouldn't be into a normal werewolf," said Hermione, "but we all hoped he wouldn't at all."

"It'll be okay though," said Ron, more to himself than Harry or Hermione, "I mean, Lupin lives a normal life, right."

"I wonder how Fleur will take it," said Hermione.

"She won't, I mean you don't think she'd call it off because of this do you?" Harry asked.

"I hope not," said Ron, "and I hope my mum takes it okay, she was hysterical when he got bitten."

"I guess we'll see what happens when they come back in the morning," said Hermione, with a concerned look on her face. "Goodnight," she added, disapparating.

Ron turned the light off and got into his bed. Harry lay there thinking about Fleur, who was probably sitting down in the kitchen hopefully waiting for her fiancé. There was no telling what was happening in Godric's Hollow now. Lupin may still be chasing Bill through the woods. He forced these thoughts out of his head. He focused on emptying his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

He awoke the next day to find that Ron had already left. He got dressed and headed toward the kitchen. He saw Bill consoling a crying Fleur, and Mr. Weasley holding Mrs. Weasley who was sobbing uncontrollably. Bill must have returned and told them what had happened. Nobody noticed that Harry had entered the room so he turned around and went back through the door, not wanting to be involved. He wandered down the hallway and noticed Lupin in one of the rooms with Tonks. She was bandaging Lupin's wounds, which were seemed very deep.

"Did Bill do all that to you?" Harry asked, entering the room.

"Harry!" Tonks shouted, dropping a roll of gauze.

"No, it wasn't Bill. We ran into a pack of werewolves," said Lupin, wincing slightly as Tonks dabbed some odd smelling liquid onto one of his cuts.

"You what?" Harry asked, "What happened."

"Bill heard their howling and headed straight for them. Of course when they saw that he wasn't a real werewolf they tried to attack him. Then they turned on me once I tried to stop them."

"How did you get away?" Harry asked, horrorstruck.

"Didn't, sun come up and we all changed back. They turned out to be nice guys. Helped me look for Bill all morning."

"But they attacked you," Harry said confused.

"Not all werewolves are bad Harry," Tonks said, looking at Lupin.

"They weren't themselves, and they were really sorry about it. Few werewolves have access to that complex a potion, I'm just lucky to be a member of the Order. Most of them have to head to a safe place and hope they don't run into anyone," Lupin said.

"What about Greyback, he loves being a werewolf," Harry asked angrily. He remembered what Dumbledore had said to him up on the north tower. His lust for blood had become so great he bit even when he wasn't transformed. "He's the reason Bill's the way he is."

"Yes," Lupin said slowly, "There are some werewolves who use their power against people, they work for Voldemort now. But lets not worry about them right now. Do you have any questions about your parent's house?"

"Well, I was curious about something in the graveyard," he said, "Who did that huge tomb belong to?"

"Gryffindor, Harry, Godric Gryffindor."

"He lived there?" Harry asked.

"A very long time ago, yes. That is why it is called Godric's Hollow"

"Lupin," Harry said, "I'm not, related to him am I?"

"Nobody knows. James' dad tried to trace your family line back but I don't think he found anything about your ancestors further than a thousand years."

"But I could be?" Harry asked, excited by the idea.

"Anything is possible Harry."


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, I know I've had some wicked boring chapters lately, and for the amount of time it took to write this one it should be a lot longer and a lot better. But anyway, things are going to take off pretty soon so just be patient.

Chapter 8

Harry and Hermione waited until the Weasley's had calmed down, not wanting to intrude on such a personal family matter. Harry thought that they wouldn't mind them being there, but he didn't want to be involved.

Ron finally entered the room around midday, "Fleur's decided to postpone the wedding."

"No! What's wrong with her?" Harry asked.

"She was really freaked out," Ron continued, "But at least she doesn't want to call it off or anything."

"She probably just needs some time to handle it. It's quite a big deal," said Hermione thoughtfully.

"What does it matter that it's a big deal, she should still accept him. Everyone else has," Ron said angrily.

"We think a werewolf in the family will be fun," said George, who had just apparated next to Harry.

"Turn him loose on anyone trying to rob us," said Fred, appearing next to Ron.

"That's an awful thing to say," said Hermione, "He could really hurt someone."

"Only joking," said Fred.

"We've put plenty of defenses around our store," said George proudly.

"I wouldn't recommend nicking anything from us," said Fred.

"What sort of defenses have you put?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well," said George, "If anyone tries to take something out of the store without paying for it, it'll transfigure into a flesh-eating slug."

"That's horrible," said Hermione, "What if someone gets hurt."

"No pity for thieves Hermione," said Fred.

"It won't be for long anyway, once Hogwarts starts we're closing," said George.

"What! Why?" Ron asked.

"Diagon Alley's been practically empty lately, no one wants to risk going out unless they have to."

"Business will okay once people need to come and get their school supplies."

"So what will you do now?" Hermione asked.

"We have a special mission to do for the order," said Fred.

"What have they got you two doing?" Ron asked.

"Sorry little bro, top secret," said George.

"But we're in the Order now, you can tell us," said Harry.

"You'll see soon enough," said Fred, as he and George disapparated.

"They've gone back to apparating all the time since they found out I failed my test," said Ron angrily.

"You two have your test in a few days don't you," Hermione said.

"Yeah, we can take it once Harry comes of age," said Ron enthusiastically.

"What do you suppose Fred and George are doing for the order?" Harry asked.

"They haven't been in for long, I'm surprised they're trusting them with something important," said Hermione.

"Maybe they were lying to us, maybe they haven't been told to do anything," said Ron, standing up.

"You two should be focusing on your apparation test, its really important," said Hermione.

"Yeah, we'll need to be able to apparate if the Horcruxes could be scattered all over the world," said Harry grimly. It was the first time since leaving school that he had mentioned what they would have to do. They said they would come with him but did they still want to?

"We still don't know where to look," said Hermione, sighing.

"They could be anywhere, where do we even start?" asked Ron.

"I don't know, it seemed a lot simpler when, well…it seemed a lot simpler last year," said Harry, not wanting to bring up Dumbledore.

"I expect we'll figure it out, and we could ask for help from the Order," said Hermione.

"That's why we've been made members," said Harry.

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"I overheard your mum and Lupin talking about it," said Harry slowly.

"How do they know about the horcruxes?" asked Hermione looking suspiciously at Ron.

"I didn't tell anyone!" Ron said.

"They don't know about them, but McGonagall told them that we had a task and that we would need their help. She's been in contact with Dumbledore somehow."

"So we can still get help from Dumbledore?" asked Ron hopefully.

"I dunno, maybe. McGonagall said I might get to talk to him," said Harry.

"That could be really helpful," said Hermione, "He can help us find all the Horcruxes."

"I guess we'll have to wait till we can talk to him before we start looking," said Harry gloomily.


	9. Chapter 9

It's about time. Christmas was insane, took me awhile to get back to this. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pase and have these out alot quicker. I did manage to give you a nice beefy chapter for your enjoyment.

Chapter 9

The days at Grimmauld Place passed quickly. They continued to hear about attacks and killings but there was little they could do. Harry tried to enjoy the peace but felt worse every day. He was the one who had to stop it, and he still hadn't done anything. He knew that without Dumbledore he wouldn't even know where to start. He knew that being able to apparate would be very important.

"Harry dear, Harry are you up?" Mrs. Weasley asked entering his room, "You've got hurry, Ron's already eating breakfast. You've got your apparation test today."

Harry sat up and put on his glasses, "Thanks Mrs. Weasley, I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay dear, hurry up then."

Harry appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later. Ron was sitting with Hermione and Ginny looking slightly nervous. Harry sat down across from Ginny and helped himself to a bit of toast.

"How will we be getting to the ministry? The muggle subway?" Harry asked.

"Dad reckons we should side-along apparate to get ready or something," said Ron.

"Right," said Harry, "When will we be leaving?"

"As soon as you're both ready," said Mr. Weasley, entering the kitchen.

"Go on," said Hermione, "You don't want to be late."

"Good luck," said Ginny quietly.

Harry and Ron followed Mr. Weasley into the hall and out the front door. "Alright boys, each of you take one of my arms," said Mr. Weasley as Harry and Ron held tightly to either arm.

Harry was prepared for it by now but he was still not comfortable with the feeling. After a split second, he found himself in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Witches and Wizards were apparating all around him, rushing to get to their work. Harry was reminded of the last time he was brought to the ministry by Mr. Weasley. He had felt nervous and sick to the stomach. It had been Dumbledore who had saved him from expulsion. He remembered the feeling he had when he saw Dumbledore stride into the courtroom. He knew at that point that he was safe, if Dumbledore was defending him there was no way he could be expelled.

Harry tried to shake the thought that he would never have that feeling again. He was brought back to consciousness by Mr. Weasley who was tugging him out of the lift, "This is our stop Harry."

"Oh right," He said looking over at Ron who seemed a little pale. Harry remembered that Ron had failed the last time, by only an eyebrow. "Where are the tests?"

"Sixth floor, the Apparation Test Center's just down here," said Mr. Weasley hurrying along.

They passed one cluster of cubicles in which a group of wizards was crowding around a rusty tin can. Harry turned to look back at them as the entire group disappeared. In the next department there was a long stone wall with a fireplace every few feet. A desk was positioned in front of each grate and there were witches weighing piles of floo powder with large brass scales.

The Apparation Test Center was, Harry thought, the largest section of the department. There were stations scattered around an enormous space almost as large as the Quidditch pitch. Spaced about the area were large golden hoops and small bronze ones.

"Ron your over here," said Mr. Weasley, motioning to the right of the large space, "and Harry, you've been assigned to desk twenty-one. Didn't say who'll be examining you but I think its just across there." Mr. Weasley pointed to the far side of the room, Harry could not recognize which desk was number twenty-one but made his way in the direction Mr. Weasley had pointed.

As he moved closer to the desks he saw that they had large signs with a number printed in black lettering. He focused his attention on the desk with the number twenty-one posted onto it and headed for it. The man sitting in the chair behind desk number twenty-one was a tough looking man with a large mane of graying hair.

"Hello Harry," the Minister of Magic said as Harry came to just a few feet away.

"You? You're my apparation tester?"

"Oh, yes. I try to examine all the ministries departments closely. I was quite surprised to find out I would be examining you," said Scrimgeour, not seeming surprised at all. Harry did not have an awfully good history with the minister, having turned down his offers to become the ministry poster boy several times. He expected Scrimgeour to try to persuade him again. "Well lets start with your trial then. Stand in the small bronze circle and apparate into the golden circle further down."

Scrimgeour stood up and moved around the desk as Harry took a step into the smaller circle. He looked ahead at the golden hoop, which seemed incredibly far off, and didn't feel as confident as earlier. He tried to remember the classes he had taken last year, trying to think about what they had taught. Deliberation, Destination, Decision. Or was it, Decision, Destination, Deliberation. Not able to make sense of the three D's, Harry gritted his teeth, focused hard on the distant hoop, and turned. A second later he opened his eyes and no longer saw Scrimgeour looking over him anxiously. He looked around and saw that he had ended up in the middle of the gold hoop. He looked down quickly to make sure he hadn't left anything behind and turned around to see Scrimgeour walking toward him slowly.

"Excellent Harry, you have achieved your apparation license." He said, patting Harry on the back. "I'll walk you back across."

"That's okay sir, I can find my way."

"Of course you can, I'm heading out myself though. Business to handle elsewhere," he said, grabbing Harry's arm and directing him towards the exit, "Wasn't surprised you did so well of course, from what I hear your turning into an exemplary wizard. I also hear you're an excellent quidditch player. Now that you're of age I could arrange a tryout with some of the major teams. I've got connections, my family has been very interested in quidditch for many generations. I've even inherited some historical documents about the creation of the snitch. You play seeker don't you, those documents might interest you."

Harry saw where the minister was heading and tried to avoid it. "I don't think I'll be playing quidditch professionally," he said, spotting Ron and Mr. Weasley sitting down, "Well, I'll have to go, my friend is waiting for me."

Harry headed toward them but Scrimgeour followed closely. Ron looked at Harry quizzically and Harry gave him the, "I'll explain later look."

"I haven't been tested yet, they've made me wait this whole time," Ron said.

"Well then I'm sure there's someone who can examine you," said Scrimgeour, putting his glasses on to fake looking around. At his word, a tall witch had arisen from the cubicle next to them.

"I can test you here," she said with a smile.

"And I'll just take Harry for a quick tour while you wait," said Scrimgeour, steering Harry away again. Harry looked at Mr. Weasley for help but he only looked down. He did not want to say anything to anger his boss, Harry thought.

Harry followed the minister further into the department until they stopped next to a wall that looked very out of place in the Department for Magical Transportation. It was covered in a map of the world with various pins and lines to suggest locations. Around the edges of the map were newspaper clippings and pictures of escaped Death Eaters. Harry turned to ask Scrimgeour what the map was doing there when a flash of bright light blinded him.

"What was that?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh nothing, someone must have used a bit too much floo powder," Scrimgeour said, trying a smile.

"I think I'd better get back," Harry said, giving his eye a last wipe.


	10. Chapter 10

YES I love review. I got three good review for the last chapter and I couldnt wait to write another.

Chapter 10

"So what happened?" Ron asked, the second he apparated onto Grimmauld Place. Harry had not been able to tell him about his conversation with the minister because Scrimgeour had followed them all the way to the atrium. Harry had disapparated first, glad to get away from the ministry, and waited on the empty street of Grimmauld Place for Ron.

"He made it so he could give me my test I suppose. He offered to set me up with one of the professional quidditch teams," Harry said, still frustrated.

"You're joking! Harry you've got to do it!"

"He'd just want to get me to work at the ministry or something"

"But you could play for a real team!" said Ron excitedly, "Try for the Cannons, that would be so wicked."

"I'm not going out for any team," Harry said, "I don't want Scrimgeour to bother me at all."

They had reached the spot where number 12 should be and Harry quickly recited the phrase in his head. Once the decrepit house had appeared, Harry wrenched open the door and stepped inside. Still sitting in the kitchen were Hermione and Ginny.

"Did you pass?" Ginny asked quickly.

In answer, Ron disapparated from Harry's side and appeared next to Hermione with a loud thud and a yell. "Ow!" Ron fell backward, rubbing his knee carefully.

"Tried to apparate sitting down," he said, getting up. At this, they all enjoyed a good laugh, even, after a few seconds of embarrassment, Ron.

"Harry, did you pass?" Hermione asked, once they had all sat down.

"Yeah, and Scrimgeour tested me," Harry said.

"The minister? Why?"

"I don't know, still wants me to help make the ministry look good I suppose," Harry said, but remembered that Scrimgeour had not asked him at all, "and we stopped by this map with Death Eaters pictures all around it." During the quidditch argument, Harry had completely forgotten to tell Ron this part.

"Why'd he show you that?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, but there was this flash of light while we were looking at it," Harry said, thinking hard.

"It wasn't a spell was it?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"I didn't feel anything hit me."

"Well there are a lot of spells you can't feel. Maybe obliviate!" said Hermione, looking scared.

"You think he saw something that they made him forget?" Ginny asked, looking as scared as Hermione.

"He wouldn't have had time, my test only took a few minutes and you were already walking back," said Ron, putting Hermione and Ginny at ease a bit.

The answer came the next morning during breakfast. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley family were sitting in the dining room eating toast and porridge. Even with the help she received, Mrs. Weasley did not have the time to cook much anymore. As they ate, they could here the sound of the door opening and everyone tensed slightly. Most of the visitors had learned not to ring the bell, and the sound of the front door creaking open had become a bit unnerving.

"Hello," said Lupin as he and Tonks walked into the kitchen.

"Harry, what've you been doing talking to the minister?" Tonks asked.

Harry looked first at Ron and Hermione, then over to Mr. Weasley, they all seemed surprised that she knew. "How did you find out about that?"

"Its on the front page of the prophet," announced Tonks, sliding a newspaper in front of him.

On the front page was a large picture of Harry and Scrimgeour looking at the map they had passed at the ministry.

THE MINISTRY AND THE CHOSEN ONE JOIN

Harry Potter, known as the chosen one, has agreed to aid the ministry in their attempts to eliminate the present threat in the wizarding world. The Minister of Magic has offered Potter a job as an auror upon completion of Hogwarts, which he is in his final year of. Although the usual requirements to become an auror include several years of training, the ministry feels that Potter has shown himself capable of such trials. "With all the boys been through we feel that he is more than capable of handling such an honor. We are, of course, offering him our full support," says the Minister, Rufus Scrimgeour. Ministry officials report that Potter was delighted to receive such an honor and couldn't wait to aid the aurors in their investigation.

On one of what have become routine trips to the ministry, Potter aided in locating several Death Eaters. We were not able to get a statement from Potter himself, nor do we know his current whereabouts. It is rumored that he is accompanied by a group of ministry aurors, tracking down the lair of key supporters of He-who-must-not-be-named. Cont. page 3.

"They can't do this!" shouted Ron, "its illegal or something right dad."

"It doesn't bother you though," said Hermione, "Does it Harry?"

"Of course it bothers me!" said Harry, getting up angrily, "People will think I support some of the things the ministry's doing and I don't."

"Nobody believes this rubbish anymore Harry," said Ginny.

"You two did," said Harry, looking at Lupin and Tonks.

"Well maybe you should use this opportunity to try to change what they're doing," said Hermione.

"What do you mean?"

"Well if they claim that you're so involved with them, you should be able to make changes, shouldn't you?" Hermione asked, looking around to see if anyone agreed.

"That's true Hermione," said Lupin, "Harry I think it would be a good idea to get involved to keep them from doing anything out of line."

"and even if you don't, they'll keep printing that you're helping them," said Tonks.

"Oh I don't think Harry needs to involve himself with all that," said Mrs. Weasley.

"I suppose if they try anything that's not right," said Harry, "I'll be able to say something."


	11. Chapter 11

I don't know if anyone else has been having problems with this site but I haven't been able to get to my story for awhile. If this chapter was worth the wait, give me a review. If I've made some error that only the greatest of fans could spot, give me a review.

Chapter 11

Harry looked around the table and noticed how crowded the room had become. "You haven't stopped by just to ask me about the paper have you?" he asked Lupin.

"Oh no, we've come to bring you to Diagon Alley to get your school things," Lupin answered.

"Our Hogwarts lists haven't arrived yet, we wont know what to buy," said Hermione.

"Oh right, we've brought those," said Fred, rummaging through his pockets.

"McGonagall sent them to the shop, the old birds starting to lose it I think," said George.

"We can't send anything to this house unless it is urgent," said Mr. Weasley.

"We weren't talking about that," said Fred with a grin.

"What are you talking about then," Ron asked curiously.

"Go on and open your letter," said George, throwing a heavy envelope to Ron and depositing the remaining three letters onto the table.

Ron caught the envelope and opened it quickly, lifted a silver badge out of it.

At the sight of it, Mrs. Weasley gasped with excitement, "Head Boy! Arthur he's been made Head Boy!"

Ron looked down at his new badge as Mr. Weasley gave him a pat on the back, "Well done Ron, very splendid indeed."

"Looks like there wont be any broken rules at Hogwarts this year," said George in a mocking voice.

"Well go on then Ronny, lets see how it looks on you," said Fred.

Ron scowled and stuck the badge back into the envelope but Mrs. Weasley pulled it out again. "Come now, try it on," she said, fastening the badge to his pajamas.

Once secure the words changed from _Head Boy_ to _Bighead Boy_. Ron stared blankly around as Fred, George, Ginny and Harry all burst out laughing. Harry could even hear Mr. Weasley chuckle under his breath.

"That's not funny you two, that's not funny at all," said Mrs. Weasley furiously.

"Oh come on mum, we're trying to start a tradition," said Fred still laughing.

"What have then done to it?" said Ron angrily.

"Nothing dear, just a stupid joke, let me set it right for you," said Mrs. Weasley, fixing the badge with a wave of her wand.

Harry noticed that once she turned her back the extra letters reappeared. Ron removed the badge from his shirt and examined it, then with a frown put it back into the envelope. Harry could not understand why he didn't mention that the spell was still active.

Fred leaned in close to him as an answer to his puzzled look, "We've charmed it to come back whenever removed and to disappear when he takes it off."

"Brilliant," said Harry, "too bad its no use in the joke shop."

"We've got plenty to keep us busy there," said George proudly, "We'll show you when you come to Diagon Alley today."

"We haven't got too many new books this year," said Hermione, who had opened her letter.

"Yeah," said Ron, "we just the Standard Book of Spells and Potion Advancements of the New Century for potions?"

"Don't worry dear, I've already got a copy of that one," said Mrs. Weasley, "and I'm afraid Professor Slughorn will not be teaching this year."

"Who did they replace him with?" Harry asked.

"A member of the order," said Mr. Weasley, "but we won't give away any surprises."

"We're members now, why can't you tell us?" Ron asked, increasingly disappointed with how little they were being told.

"You'll find out come September 1st," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Here's your letter Harry," said Ginny, holding it out to him.

Their hands touched briefly, as Harry took the envelope from her. He tried to ignore the warm feeling that he had not felt in so long. Trying not to think about it, he opened his letter slowly.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock._

_A list of books for next year is enclosed._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor D. Diggle_

_Deputy Headmaster_

"Diggle's been made the deputy headmaster too?" Harry asked.

"Maybe he'll be the head of Gryffindor," said Ginny.

"He wouldn't be too bad, seemed like an alright bloke," said Ron, as he looked over at something in Hermione's hand, "What's that you've got there Hermione, is that a Head Girl badge?"

"Oh, yes," she said blushing.

"Well go on and try it on," said Fred grinning.

"Don't worry, we got our laugh out of our little Ronnykins, yours is fine," said George.

Hermione hesitated slightly, but finally pinned the silver badge on. Once verifying that the words Head Girl had not changed, she looked a bit more pleased with herself.

"What have you done to hers?" Harry asked Fred and George quietly.

"You'll see," Fred answer with a grin.


	12. Chapter 12

Been a long time since I added a new chapter. Had some major writers block on this one, managed to get something out though. Let me know how you like it.

Chapter 12

Harry could never fully appreciate the depressing mood Grimmauld Place set on someone until he was stepping out its large ancient doors. As the cool summer breeze flowed through his hair he thought of how good it must have felt for his Godfather to finally leave such a horrible place. He was rather disappointed as Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, and Ginny, with help from Tonks, began to apparate in front of him. He did not want to leave such a peaceful summer morning to apparate into the damp and dusty Leaky Cauldron.

Focusing on his destination, Harry took one last breath of crisp clean air before turning around to disapparate at the famous wizards pub. Only the Leaky Cauldron was not like Harry had known it for the past six years. Witches and Wizards were not talking happily over butterbeers and firewiskey, in fact, almost nobody was there. Tom, the barman, looked up at the group as they passed, but he did not show the usual hopefulness for new customers. He seemed to be eyeing each of them with a look of fear. The expressions on the faces of the few people actually sitting for drinks perfectly expressed the way Harry had been feeling for months.

"Its even gloomier in here than it was last year," Hermione noted.

"Diagon Alley gets worse everyday," said Fred grimly.

"Anyone who ever comes through here is keen to get on with what they need to do and get out quick," said George.

"That's exactly what we should be doing," said Lupin, guiding them into the empty alleyway.

Diagon Alley was worse than Harry had ever seen it. Witches and Wizards walked hurriedly without speaking, looking cautiously in every direction. Some had one hand tucked deep in their robes reminding Harry of how Moody would act when part of Harry's guard. A surprising amount of shops were closed and boarded up. The few shops that were open seemed to be enclosed in glowing black bars. It looked to Harry as if the shops were in large magical cages, but he knew they must be designed to keep something out.

When the group reached Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, however, they found the same flashy display as always. Although, Harry was happy to see, the "You-Know-Poo" sign was missing.

"You idiots didn't even lock up!" said Ron.

"He's right Fred," said George.

"How could we have been so stupid," said Fred.

"Tell you what little bro," said George, "for pointing out such a thick mistake on our part,"

"We'll let you have one free thing from the shop," said Fred.

"Cool!" said Ron, hurrying into the store. But he did not get more than a few feet into the store before he was shot right back toward them. Lupin slowed him down with a flick of his wand, and set Ron down lightly.

"Once you've had a bit more schooling you'll appreciate that there are more effective things than locks," said Fred grinning.

"I've had more school than you, you two never finished sixth year."

"So you wont be needing our help sorting out the second part of the jinx then?" said George, with an even bigger grin on his face.

At that moment Ron's eyebrows began growing at an alarming rate. Before they had grown so large that they blocked Ron's eyes, a huge mustache sprouted under his nose and began growing just as fast. While everyone burst out laughing, Ron's hand dove immediately into his pocket but Lupin had already reached him. As the jinx really began to take effect, bushy red hair began growing from his back and arms, giving him the impression of a red-haired gorilla that had been stuffed into wizard's robes. Lupin slowly removed the hair with his wand in one hand, while quickly taking Ron's drawn wand away with his other.

"We can't draw attention to ourselves," said Lupin, still holding Ron's wand a safe distance from him, "We need to keep moving, we'll stop back here when we leave."

Lupin led them down the almost deserted street, headed toward the stark white building, Gringotts. As Harry walked through the first set of doors he met a terrifying sight. An enormous troll was standing right in front of Harry. As Harry stared at the troll, Tonks steered him around him and pushed open the second door. Two more trolls stood on either side of them, accompanied by two large wizards. The wizards scanned all of them with strange glowing instruments before allowing them to head towards the counters. Once Harry had, had is Wand scanned, he was lead by a fat grumpy looking goblin to his vault.

"Okay, we ought to head to Madam Malkin's first," said Lupin, once they had returned to the streets of Diagon Alley.

"Only Ginny needs new robes," said Ron, "Harry, Hermione and I can keep going to get our things."

"We're supposed to keep together," said Lupin shortly.

"We members of the order now," said Ron, "we can take care of ourselves.

"He's right Remus," said Tonks, "they'll be alright."

"Okay, we'll meet at Flourish and Blotts in fourty-five minutes," said Lupin.

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked with them until they reached the robe shop and then headed down the street. They stopped to buy quills and parchment, then went to the apothecary to refill their supply of potions ingredients.

"What do you say we get a drink in the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Ron hopefully.

"The barman did look like he could use some customers," said Hermione.

"Yeah, alright," said Harry, still looking through the window of Madam Malkin's at Ginny.

The barman, Tom, did indeed look as though he needed a customer. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat at a table in the empty room.

"I'll get the drinks," said Hermione standing up.

"That's alright Hermione I'll get them," said Ron, heading for the bar.

"You've still got to buy food for you're owl, Ron," said Hermione.

Harry listened to them with disinterest, used to their bickering. He noticed, however, that it did not seem like their using arguments. They did not seem as serious, more as though they were ribbing each other. Harry couldn't help noticing that they were looking at each other in an unusual way.


	13. Chapter 13

I managed to write the last two chapters in one night after about a six month break, I tried to put some good stuff in these two though. I'd love to get some reviews so you can tell me if you think I'm going in the right directions. Or just post to tell me if you liked it.

Chapter 13

Harry enjoyed dinner at number 12 Grimmauld Place that night. He did not know whether it was because he would be returning to Hogwarts in only a few days. He wasn't even sure how he felt about returning to Hogwarts. Deep down he was glad because he knew that no matter what Hogwarts would always be his favorite place in the world. But he felt bad that he had begun to put off finding the Horcrux's, and he didn't know whether it was because he had no idea where to even begin, or because he knew that by searching for them he would be putting Ron and Hermione's lives in danger. He was anxious at the hope of talking to Dumbledore, but tried to remind himself that even if he did manage to talk to his portrait, it would not be the real Dumbledore.

Tonks and Lupin had told them that they would be staying at Grimmauld Place until they returned to Hogwarts. They were sitting next to each other at the table, talking quietly. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were also sitting down to one end, talking with their heads together. Bill and the twins were talking about their brother Charlie.

"He says that he's only got a few who are ready," said Bill.

"He can't control that lot," said Fred.

"It'll be better to just forget about it, they'll be of no use," said George.

"Charlie thinks he can do it," said Bill, "but I reckon you're right.

Stomach's a bit fuller, Harry and Ron headed up to their room to go to sleep. At their door, a light further up the stairs caught Harry's eye. Ron followed him as he headed up the stairs. It looked as though there was a candle lit in the attic, Harry thought. Stepping up the last few stairs, Harry opened the attic door to reveal Tonks knelt down, going through an old box.

"Oh, wotcher Harry, Ron," she said, wiping her eyes with her robes before turning around.

"How come you're up here?" Harry asked.

"Well, I was just looking at some of Sirius' old things," she said.

Harry knelt down next to her and started looking through the box she had been searching. Harry picked up a picture of Sirius and another dark haired wizard who must have been his brother. Just then he noticed a box with the name Regulus written on the side. Harry pulled the box toward him and opened the lid, staring inside. He pulled out a few books before finding several rolls of parchment, which he unrolled.

To Harry astonishment, written on the parchment were a series of charts and notes, all of which seemed to concern Voldemort. There was a diagram mapping Voldemort's lineage. Looking at the top Harry saw that it was traced all the way back to Slytherin.

"Ron!" said Harry in amazement, "come and have a look at this."

"What are you all doing up here?" asked Hermione, walking through the door.

"Hermione!" exclaimed Harry, "R.A.B.! Its…its…Sirius' brother!"

"What's that?" Tonk's asked, confused.

"Oh," said Harry, completely forgetting that Tonks was still in the room, "its nothing, I just recognized Regulus' initials from something Sirius wrote me once. Erm, do you think I'd be able to keep these?"

"Its all yours anyway Harry, you can do whatever you want with it," said Tonks, clearly not understanding why they all seemed so anxious.

"Right," said Harry awkwardly, picking up the box and carrying it out of the room with him.

"Harry!" said Hermione, reading three sheets at once, "this is great, this is just what we needed."

"Its got everything mate," said Ron with an amazed expression on his face.

They took the box to Harry and Ron's room and spread out everything Regulus had written onto one of the beds. There were speculations about what Voldemort would have used as Horcrux's; where he might have hidden them. There were directions on how to destroy the part of the soul enclosed in the item. On one of the sheets he had drawn a map of England, with several locations circled.

Harry stood up, suddenly remembering something, "The locket's here!" he said.

"How do you know," asked Hermione.

"When we were cleaning out one of the cabinets the last time we were her," he said, heading towards the door, "I picked up a gold locket, I held it in my hand."

"Where is it now though?" Ron asked.

Over the next two days Harry, Ron and Hermione spent all the time they could, without causing suspicion by the rest of the house inhabitants, searching number twelve for the locket. It was not until the night before the were to leave for Hogwarts that Harry admitted they had searched the entire house, and that it was not there.

"Where could it have gone though?" he asked, "No one would have touched that old stuff."

"Kreacher would have wanted it," said Ron.

"Mundungus! He was selling some things he stole from here in Hogsmeade, we saw him," said Hermione.

"I'll bet anything he took it," said Harry, "but he can't have it anymore, he's in Azkaban."

"Maybe he'd already sold it to someone," suggested Ron, "we could ask him if he remembers."

"How are we supposed to visit him in Azkaban?" asked Hermione, "I'm not sure they allow visits."

"Maybe McGonagall can help us get in," Harry said, "she's the only one who knows about the Horcrux's."

"We'll be able to ask her tomorrow then."


	14. Chapter 14

Enjoy, and review it if you do.

Chapter 14

The following morning Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were led by Tonks, Lupin, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley out the door of number 12 and onto Grimmauld Place. A muggle taxi pulled up to the spot where the house stood only seconds before. As Harry helped Lupin shove the four trunks into the back of the cab, which seemed to fit them easily considering their size, he wondered how eight of them were expected to squeeze into the car. He was amazed to find that he was able to comfortable sit in the back even with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tonks already there. As he looked at the back of the cabbies head a gruff voice came from him.

"Alright there, Potter?" he asked without turning around.

"I, Moody?" Harry asked, "why are you driving a muggle cab?"

"We want to draw as little attention as possible," said Moody, who was still focused on the road, although Harry expected that his magical eye was turned to look at Harry.

King's Cross Station was as crowded and noisy as ever. Harry looked around at all the people rushing to their platforms talking happily. None of them knew that anything was wrong with the world. None of them knew who Voldemort was, or what it meant that he was back. They would be able to go about their lives, never having anything to fear.

As Harry stepped through the barrier to Platform nine and three-quarters, he met an astonishingly different sight. Students were being hugged by their parents and seen onto the train; most of the parents were crying. Harry knew that many of them feared it would be the last time they saw their family.

"Be careful," one witch said to a small boy who was looking terrified, "Stay in your common room between classes and don't leave the castle."

"I will mum," he said, slowly climbing onto the train.

Harry expected Mrs. Weasley to start hugging and kissing them, as she did every year, but she seemed more reserved a merely wished them all a good term.

"Right," said Moody, focusing on them with his normal eye, "you lot better get on."

Harry got on the train and headed down the corridor, but Hermione had started in the other direction, "Ron and I have got to go to the front to talk to the prefects."

"Oh, ok," said Harry, looking nervously at Ginny as they walked down the corridor together.

After passing a few full compartments, a round faced boy stuck his head out the door of one of the compartments, "Harry! This ones free," said Neville Longbottom.

"Hello Neville," said Harry, who had appreciated Neville's friendship more and more over the past few years. He and Luna had been the only ones from the D.A. who had offered their help when they needed it.

"How was your summer, Neville?" asked Ginny, taking a seat next to Harry.

"Not so good," said Neville, "My gran didn't want me coming back."

"Why?" asked Harry, although Harry could guess the reason.

"She reckons its not safe after, well after-"

"So how did you convince her to let you go?" interrupted Harry.

"Well," said Neville hesitantly; then putting on a stronger face he said, "Well, she didn't actually let me go."

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.

"Well I just, just came anyway," he said, looking as though he was horrified at what he had done.

"Wow," said Harry, who could not believe Neville would do something so, unlike himself, "won't your grandmother come to the school looking for you?"

"I hope not," said Neville; looking out the window, as if he expected her to be following the train on foot.

"I wonder if a lot of parents will have kept their kids at home," said Ginny.

When the train arrived at Hogwarts and the students began filing out, Harry noticed that the usual sea of black seemed very small indeed. They were able to spot Ron and Hermione easily and headed toward them.

"Have you noticed how few people have come this year?" asked Hermione, looking around.

"I reckon that's why I've been made Head Boy," said Ron, "there wasn't anyone else."

"It was because you were the best person for it, Ron," said Hermione, although she didn't sound convinced herself.

Harry went to the front of their carriage to pet the black horse-like creature that pulled them, before getting in. He, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville all shared a carriage as they slowly headed towards the school. They were led through the entrance and into the great hall, where the four long house tables sat. Once everyone had taken their seats, Harry was able to see how many people were missing this year.

"Dean, where's Seamus?" asked Harry.

"I don't think he's coming," said Dean, looking worried, "his mother wouldn't let him go."

It seemed that almost half of Gryffindor had stayed home. Harry could understand that some people would feel less safe at Hogwarts without Dumbledore, but it was surely still safer than their homes. Harry scanned the teachers table to see the new appointments. He noticed Dedalus Diggle, talking to Professor McGonagall. Next to Professor sprout sat a small witch with bright red hair.

"Ron," exclaimed Harry, "Its your mum!"


	15. Chapter 15

What does everyone think of the Mrs. Weasley thing. I know alot of you are going to hate the idea, but I thought it would be an interesting side-story. Either way give me some input.

Chapter 15

Ron jerked around, nearly falling off his seat. Sitting up at the staff table, talking excitedly was Mrs. Weasley. Ron made to stand up, but as he did, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, and Hermione forced Ron back into his seat.

"Wait until after the feast," said Hermione.

"I've got to find out what she's doing here," said Ron, who still looked as though he might start running toward her at any second.

"She couldn't be, she wouldn't," stammered Ginny looking terrified.

"Welcome students," said McGonagall, reminding Harry of the usual start of term speech's with a small lurch in his stomach, "to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is a dangerous time for our kind, and I notice that many of your classmates feel that they would be safer away from the school. Let me assure you that you will always be protected while you are within these walls. This school has survived centuries of history, centuries of difficult times, I see no reason why your generation of witches and wizards shall not meet these times with all the characteristics the founders prized in their students; pride, intelligence, bravery and love.

"With that I would like to announce a few new appointments to the teaching staff this year. Taking over the position of Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmaster will be Professor Diggle. The post of Defense against the Dark Arts teacher will be filled by auror Professor Shacklebolt. I am sorry to say that Professor Slughorn was unable to resume his post as potions master, but I am delighted to introduce our new appointment, Professor Weasley."

When Diggle and Kingsley's names were announced there was a wave of polite applause; when Mrs. Weasley's name was called, everyone seemed to be turning to look at Ron, who had turned the deepest scarlet Harry had every seen him achieve, and Ginny, whose head was down on the table. Neither of them seemed to have much of an appetite when the golden plates in front of them filled with roast pork, baked potatoes, mounds of chicken, pies, and virtually anything Harry could imagine. Once the food had disappeared, Ron made another attempt to get up, but it was Ginny who pulled him down again.

"Lets not go now," she said, looking around, "lets wait until everyone starts to leave."

Moments later, McGonagall stood up and instructed them all to go to their beds. At this, Ron and Ginny hurried up to the staff table, followed by Harry and Hermione.

"Mum! What, why did you," stammered Ron.

"Well they needed someone from the order to be the potions master, and since I happened to be one of the most qualified people, I volunteered," she said.

"But why?" asked Ginny, looking miserably up at her mother.

"Hogwarts needs as much protection as it can get," said Mrs. Weasley.

Harry, amazed as he was that Mrs. Weasley would be teaching them, did not want to get involved in their argument. Instead, he walked down the table to greet Hagrid, whom he had not seen since he had been made a member of the order.

"Hello Harry!" he said brightly.

"Hello Hagrid, how are you?" Harry asked.

"Not bad, been right busy I can tell ye that," he said.

"How's Grawp?" asked Harry.

"He's doing spectacular," said Hagrid beaming, "been helpin' me take care o' loads of creatures in the forest."

"Are the centaurs still not letting anyone in then?" Harry asked, curiously.

"Its not so much that they don't want us in their forest," said Hagrid darkly, "more like they know summat' bad's going to happen, and they don't want anything to do with it. If they run into me and Grawp there, they look at us with a sort of pity."

"It was like that when I first met Firenze in my first year," said Harry, thinking back.

"They like to let on like they know more than we do," said Hagrid, "I reckon most of it's a load of codswallop."

"Yeah," said Harry, unconvinced, "yeah maybe."

He had received a fresh feeling of hopelessness. The centaurs were a race that believed that there was no hope in changing your fate. Dumbledore had helped him feel that nothing was forcing him to fulfill the prophecy. When he had had Dumbledore's help, he felt that it would at least be possible. Now he felt as though, try as he might, he wouldn't make it very far. The power the prophecy foretold Harry would have, seemed pointless against the powers Voldemort possessed.

Just then, Harry remembered why he had been so eager to return to Hogwarts. Looking down the table, he found Professor McGonagall and rushed over to her.

"Professor McGonagall," he said, "Can I, would it be okay if I saw Professor Dumbledore's painting now?"

"I don't think this is the right time, Potter," she said, sternly, "its very late and I've already told the students to head to their common rooms."

"I just wanted to talk to him for a few minutes, I could go to my common room after that," said Harry, hopefully.

"Not tonight, Potter," she said, "and that's my final word. After what happened last year you must understand that Hogwarts may not be safe from_ Voldemort's_ spies."

"You mean you think there still might be Death Eaters at Hogwarts?" asked Harry, lowering his voice.

"That's why all the new staff came from the Order, but we don't know if he's using students again."

"Then why did you let the sons of Death Eaters come?" Harry asked, watching as Crabbe, Goyle and Nott walked out of the Great Hall.

"We cant ban students just because of what their fathers have done," she said, as though this was not the first time she had been asked this question, "we don't know what path they will choose at Hogwarts, but if we don't allow them to come, we aren't leaving them many choices. They haven't done anything to deserve to be treated as enemies, no matter what house they're in or who their fathers are."


	16. Chapter 16

Read it and let me know what you think.

Chapter 16

Harry awoke the next morning to find that Ron had already gone down to breakfast. Getting out of bed, he put on his glasses and got dressed slowly. Harry joined the last few people leaving the almost empty common room, heading down to the Great Hall. Upon reaching the Gryffindor table, he was Ron lying his head on the table and covering it with his hands.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked Hermione, sitting across from her.

"We've just gotten our schedules," she said quietly, looking at Ron.

Harry looked around for Professor McGonagall, who usually gave out the new schedules to Gryffindor.

"Wait," Harry said, "who's the new head of Gryffindor?"

Hermione didn't answer, choosing to point silently down the table instead. Looking in the direction she had pointed, Harry saw a smiling Mrs. Weasley handing out schedules.

"Oh Harry dear," she said, spotting him, "I've got your schedule here. You're with me first class, see you there!"

"Thanks Mrs.- I mean _Professor_ Weasley."

Then, looking at Ron, she said, "Ron? What's wrong dear? Are you ill?"

"I'm fine mum, don't worry," said Ron, not looking up.

"You don't seem well dear, maybe you ought to go to see Madam Pomfrey before my class."

"Er, yeah," said Ron, looking up slightly, "yeah, I erm, I might do that."

"You can't miss her first lesson, Ron!" said Hermione, as Mrs. Weasley worked her way down the table, still smiling brightly.

"Why not?" asked Ron, who had cheered up at the opportunity.

"I reckon you ought to just get it over with," said Harry, "it might not be that bad."

"Oh, it'll be bad," he said, beginning to really look ill.

"She's going to be here all year," said Hermione, scanning her schedule, "you might as well get used to it."

Grudgingly, Ron followed Harry and Hermione down to the dungeons. They entered the classroom to find Mrs. Weasley sitting at the desk and about half the class waiting by their cauldrons.

"Welcome, seventh years, to N.E.W.T. potions," she said brightly, "I'm Professor Weasley, and I will be your instructor for your final year of potion making. In this class, you will be studying the creation of some of the most advanced potions used in the Wizarding world. Some of the potions we will study could be so dangerous if done wrong, that the standards of this class will be raised to a higher level than you have known in your previous years."

Hermione edged eagerly to the end of her seat, while Ron sunk deeply into his.

"We'll be starting today with the Wolfsbane Potion. Can anyone tell me what this potion does?" Hermione's hand shot up, followed by Harry's, "Yes, Harry?"

"It lets a werewolf stay in control when it transforms," he said.

"Very good," she said, smiling fondly at him, "five points to Gryffindor. Now this potion will be difficult and can cause terrible side effects when done incorrectly. Does anyone know what those side effects are?"

Hermione's hand shot up again, "It can cause the transformation to be extremely painful and continue to be painful as long as the werewolf remains transformed. Also, it can cause temporary insanity."

"Excellent, another five points. Now, this potion will require ingredients not included in your basic potions kit, you can collect those in the store cupboard." With a wave of her wand the cupboard opened, then, with another flick of her wand she said, "The steps are on the board, if you have any questions please call me to your table and I will assist you."

At the end of the lesson, even Ron was able to admit that it wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. There was only one point that caused Ron to dive behind his cauldron, in which Mrs. Weasley had shouted across the room, "Oh Ron, sweetheart, you've got to cut those roots into smaller pieces." Aside from that, Harry thought, Mrs. Weasley had proved to be an excellent teacher.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts next," said Ron, cheering up.

"Kingsley is bound to know loads of defensive magic," said Hermione.

Harry, Ron and Hermione traveled out of the dungeons and into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Kingsley stood behind his desk waiting for everyone to take their seats. Harry noticed that this class was also smaller than usual. Only Dean, Neville, Nott and two Ravenclaws had remained in the class.

"This is N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Kingsley in his deep voice, "I am Professor Shaklebolt, former auror for the Ministry of Magic. This is your final year at Hogwarts, soon you will be away from the protection of the castle and left to defend yourself, especially in the current state of the wizarding world. You will therefore be taught to defend yourself with the mastery of jinxes and counter-jinxes, and advanced defensive magic."

They took detailed notes for most of the lesson, until Kingsley said, "I want you all to split up into pairs and we'll start with disarming, I need to see what you can do."

Dean and Neville paired up, while the two Ravenclaws edged together. Harry was halfway to Ron when he spotted Nott staring at him eagerly. If he went with Ron, Harry thought, then Hermione would have to pair with Nott.

"Go with Hermione," Harry told Ron, starting toward Nott. If Voldemort need a new spy in Hogwarts, Harry thought, the son of another Death Eater would make sense.

"Fancy a go then?" asked Nott.

Harry did not say anything, but raised his wand slowly.

"Right," said Kingsley, "I want to see disarming spells on three. One…two…three."

Nott shouted, "Impedimenta," just as Harry cried, "Expelliarmus." Nott's jinx zoomed over Harry's shoulder, while Harry's hit him squarely in the chest. Nott slid back to the wall of the classroom, his wand landing a few feet away. Harry looked around the room, Ron was slowly climbing to his feet; Neville, surprisingly, had managed to disarm Dean. Neither of the Ravenclaw's spells had hit.

Nott snatched his wand up off the ground and aimed it at Harry. His mouth was open, ready to shout a jinx, but then he closed it seeming to think better of it. Harry, who was halfway through the word, "Protego," was surprised at Nott's sudden reconsideration. The bell rang somewhere in the castle, Kingsley stood up and said, "Practice the shield charm, we'll be working on it next class."


	17. Chapter 17

Please review.

Chapter 17

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had a break after lunch, which they spent in the Gryffindor common room. The common room was empty, giving Harry the opportunity to look through Regulus' notes, while Ron read Quidditch through the Ages and Hermione got started on the potions assignment. Harry shifted through the pages until he saw one he had not noticed before. One roll of parchment outlined the lineage of Godric Gryffindor, spanning through centuries of ancestors. Harry looked interestedly at the parchment, he noticed that the line seemed to end somewhere in the fourteenth century. On the back, was another family tree; scanning to the bottom Harry saw with amazement, "Harry Potter," written underneath "James Potter" and "Lily Evans." This, Harry realized with amazement, was the Potter lineage, his lineage.

"Ron, Hermione!" exclaimed Harry, "come and have a look at this."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Its my family tree, and hang on," Harry had scanned to the top of the page, "its traced all the way back to the fourteenth century."

"Why would Sirius' brother be interested in your family?" asked Hermione, confused.

"Regulus was trying to find out if I was related to Gryffindor, but he never did," said Harry, "Gryffindor's line ends with Bowman Wright, in the fourteenth century."

"Wait," said Ron, who seemed to have gained a new understanding of the situation, "what was that name again?"

"Bowman Wright," said Harry, "why?"

"Because I've just read about him," said Ron, picking up Quidditch Through the Ages and flipping through it, then finally stopping and handing the book to Harry. Harry read quickly, with Hermione looking interestedly over his shoulder.

The invention of the Golden Snitch is credited to the wizard Bowman Wright of Godric's Hollow. While Quidditch teams all over the country tried to find bird substitutes for the Snidget, Wright, who was a skilled metal-charmer, set himself to the task of creating a ball that mimicked the behavior and flight patterns of the Snidget. That he succeeded perfectly is clear from the many rolls of parchment he left behind him on his death (now in the possession of a private collector), listing the orders that he had received from all over the country.

"A skilled metal-charmer," Harry thought out loud, "maybe he put the charms on Gryffindor's sword, or maybe he knows about another of Gryffindor's heirlooms."

"Those documents he left behind might help us find out," said Hermione.

"How are we supposed to find out who the private collector is?" asked Ron.

"I already know who," said Harry, suddenly remembering, "Scrimgeour."

"How do you know?" asked Hermione.

"He told me," said Harry, "when I took my apparation test."

"Send him an owl," said Ron, "tell him you want to see them."

"That would be a little suspicious," said Hermione, "we don't want the ministry finding out what we're up to."

"I've got to find a way to meet him and just sort of get the conversation on Quidditch or something," said Harry, though he could not see how he would manage it.

"Harry," said Ron, suddenly excited, "didn't Scrimgeour also say he'd get you a tryout with any Quidditch team?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "I told him I wasn't interested though."

"Well, send him an owl," said Ron, "tell him you've changed your mind."

"That might not be a bad idea," said Hermione, "you could mention the documents in your letter."

"Yeah, alright," said Harry, pulling a fresh sheet of parchment toward him and dipping his quill in a bottle of ink.

"Wait, Harry," said Ron, "you should tell him you want to try out for the Cannons!"

"What does it matter?" asked Hermione.

"What does it matter?" repeated Ron, with the look he often wore when Hermione showed how little she cared about Quidditch, "how awesome would it be to meet the Cannons!"

"Yeah," said Harry, "I don't know if he knows them, but it's worth a shot. What should I write?"

Dear Minister,

I have been thinking about your offer to set me up with a tryout for a Quidditch team. If you are still willing too, I would appreciate a chance. If you can, I have always been interested in playing for the Chudley Cannons. Also, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to see those documents about the invention of the snitch, they sounded very interesting. Thank you again for your offer to further my Quidditch career.

Harry Potter

Harry finished the letter and slid it across the table so Ron and Hermione could read it. He knew it had not sounded like himself, but he also knew that under normal circumstances Harry would never ask Scrimgeour for anything.

"Its sounds okay," said Hermione, looking up.

"We should send that now," said Ron.

"Yeah, I'll head up to the Owlery now," said Harry, getting up.

"Don't be late for Herbology," warned Hermione, as he walked to the exit.

Walking down the hallway, Harry was struck with a sudden idea. Maybe Dumbledore knows some connection between Bowman Wright and the horcrux's. Now seemed like a good time to finally talk to him. Turning around, Harry headed toward the headmasters office. Reaching the familiar stone Gargoyle, Harry realized that once again he did not know the password. Luckily, the Gargoyle slid open and Professor McGonagall walked out just as Harry was planning to walk away.

"Yes, Potter?" she asked, spotting him.

"Erm, I was wondering if I could talk to Dumbledore's painting now," he said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" she asked, sternly.

"I've got free period," he answered, "I don't have to be in Herbology for twenty minutes."

"Very well then, Potter," she said, reluctantly, "you may have a few minutes to speak with him."

Harry followed her back up the spiral staircase and into the Headmaster's office. He looked around, barely noticing the subtle changes that McGonagall had mad to the room. Excitedly, he began scanning the portraits of old Headmasters and Headmistress' until he heard a calm, low voice say, "Hello, Harry."


	18. Chapter 18

They meet again! Let me know what you think(after you read it).(That means review it)(please)

Chapter 18

"Professor Dumbledore!" said Harry in amazement. Sitting calmly in a gold frame, wearing light purple robes and half-moon spectacles, was Dumbledore. Harry could not believe that he was seeing his old headmaster again. Ever since that day on top of the astronomy tower, Harry had been trying to come to the realization that he would never see Dumbledore again. Yet here he was, smiling as brightly as ever, looking down at Harry from his long, crooked nose.

"I can't believe I'm speaking to you again," Harry said.

"I am glad that I am still able to help you in any way I can," he said, in his usual calm tone.

"I think you can help me," said Harry, realizing that he still clutched his letter to the minister tightly in his hand.

"Although I do not have all of the knowledge and memories that I did when I was among the living, I will try to aid you as best I can," he said.

"Why haven't you got all your memories?" Harry asked.

"I am merely a painting, Harry; I am not the Dumbledore, the wizard."

"I don't understand, you are Professor Dumbledore," said Harry, confused.

"What was it that you thought I might be able to help you with?" Dumbledore asked. Harry could tell that he had avoided explaining himself in further detail. He was no longer smiling; he was looking at Harry with an almost sorrowful expression.

"Do you know why Sirius' brother was killed by the Death Eaters?" Harry asked.

"Why do you ask, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well, the locket that we got er," started Harry, trying not to think, the night you died, "last spring, it was a fake. There was a note to Voldemort inside, and it was signed with R.A.B."

"You believe that this R.A.B. is Regulus Black," it wasn't a question, more an interested comment.

"Well, while we were at the headquarters, we found a box of Regulus' notes," said Harry, "and its all about Voldemort's horcruxes."

"Was the locket there?" asked Dumbledore, although it seemed he already knew the answer.

"No, we searched the entire house," said Harry, "but the letter did say that he was intending on destroying it."

"Was there any clues in the notes he left?"

"Yeah," said Harry, looking at the letter in his hand, "he's traced out my family tree, and Godric Gryffindor's. But neither of them are complete, they both end around the same time."

"Perhaps Regulus was trying to connect the two lineages," said Dumbledore.

"But why?" asked Harry, "I'm not Gryffindor's heir am I?"

"As you said, the lines are incomplete, so your guess is as good as mine," said Dumbledore, "as to why Regulus would want to know, I don't know. Either I cant remember anymore or I never knew. I don't believe that I ever knew that Regulus was looking for the horcruxes, else I would have told you about it."

"Then do you know who Bowman Wright is?" Harry asked.

"Bowman Wright," repeated Dumbledore, apparently in deep thought, "ah yes. He was the last known heir of Gryffindor; your grandfather spent years trying to link him with your oldest known ancestors, the Blooms."

"Lupin told me that he tried to link my family to Gryffindor," said Harry, "he could never link us with Wright?"

"I don't believe so," said Dumbledore, "very little was ever known about Wright."

"Scrimgeour has got Wright's documents, about how he created the snitch," said Harry.

"Does he now," said Dumbledore, he did not smile, but the twinkle seemed to return to his eyes.

"I've written him a letter," said Harry, "I can tell you what the documents say once I've had a chance to read them."

"I'm sorry Harry but I'm afraid that wont be possible," said Dumbledore, the sorrowful expression back on his face.

"What?" asked Harry, taken aback, "why not."

"Harry, you cant think of this painting as a way to reach the real Dumbledore," he said, "you must understand I am merely an imprint left behind."

"I do understand, but I'd still like to talk to you again," said Harry, the joy of seeing his headmaster draining slowly.

"Remember the Mirror of Erised, Harry," said Dumbledore, "I am no realer than your parents were in that mirror. This painting may be a break from reality just like the mirror, but both only have the power to deteriorate the true reality around you."

"Then why have they even made paintings of all the headmasters?" asked Harry.

"It is now my job, just like my predecessors, to provide guidance to the current Headmistress of Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, looking at Professor McGonagall. Harry had nearly forgotten that she was still in the room, sitting at her desk, listening intently.

"I need your guidance too," said Harry, "I can't find the horcruxes on my own."

"Yet you were well on your way before you entered your Headmistress' office," said Dumbledore, nodding at the note in Harry's hand, "I have given you all the guidance you will need from me. Trust your instincts, follow what you feel."

"I, I just can't think that I'll never get to talk to you again," said Harry, surprised at the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"You must understand, Harry, you haven't been talking to me," said Dumbledore, "I know that this is a difficult task for anyone to expect you to accomplish on your own. You must remember that you are not alone, you have your friends, who will all play a part before the end. My part in your life has ended, you must accept that; but you still have many who stand beside you. And never, ever forget that your single greatest strength lives inside of you, and all those who care about you. The journey through Voldemort's soul will be a dark one, you must remember never to lose the light that burns so brightly within you, for it represents the love of all those that you have lost and all those that still fight beside you."


	19. Chapter 19

I took this off for a few hours, so I could add more to the ending. So if you've read it already, read it again. This is by far the biggest chapter I've written. Hope you enjoy, review.

Chapter 19

Harry thought that his meeting with Dumbledore would leave him feeling better and given him a new hope, but it only made the feeling that he was alone in this even stronger. Although he tried to accept this feeling at the beginning of the summer, losing the thought that he would be able to talk to Dumbledore all year had only made the feeling come back stronger. He had went to the Owlery and sent the letter to Scrimgeour immediately. He hoped that he would be able to prove to Dumbledore that he would be able to accomplish the goal he had set for him. When the owls flew into the Great Hall the next morning, Harry did not expect that Scrimgeour would return his letter for at least a few days.

"Harry," said Ron, "you haven't heard about when Quidditch is starting, have you?"

"No," said Harry, realizing that he had not been told anything about this years team, "I reckon I ought to ask McGonagall when I can set up tryouts."

"You ought to ask her about Azkaban," said Hermione, with a copy of the Standard Book of Spells open over her plate, "we've got to find a way to talk to Mundungus."

"I hope she can get us a visit," said Harry, "do you think she's got that kind of influence?"

"Worth a try," said Ron.

Harry got up and walked over to the staff table, seeing Professor McGonagall get up and head toward the door.

"Er, Professor," he called after her.

"Yes, Potter?" she asked.

"I was wondering when I should start tryouts for Quidditch."

"I'm afraid there will be no Quidditch this year," she said, sadly.

"What!" said Harry, "why not?"

"Well as you must have noticed, there have never been so many students to leave the school," she said, looking around the Great Hall grimly, "Due to the lack of players and the given situation, the staff has decided that the league will not take place this year. I'm sorry, Potter."

"Wait," he said, as she turned to walk away, "I wanted to ask you if you had any way for me to get a visit at Azkaban."

"And why would you need to go there?" she asked, her voice becoming more serious.

"Well, its for the horcruxes, we need to talk to someone who might know where one is."

"Well I don't know how much ability I have to get you in," she said, "but as I agreed over the summer, you will be able to leave the school, given the circumstances. I will ask that you make arrangements with me to leave at appropriate times, I will not allow it to interfere with your final year at Hogwarts, you may only leave on weekends."

"Er, okay," said Harry; who, although he trusted his new headmistress, was not sure how much he wanted to have to disclose to her about his task, "well then I guess we'd like to leave this weekend to go to Azkaban."

"Very well, Potter," said McGonagall, "report to my office and I will transport you away from the school discreetly. Who is it you need to speak to?"

"Mundungus," said Harry bluntly.

"I will try to do what I can to get you access to him, but you must remember that it is of greatest importance that nobody suspects what you are doing."

"Thank you Professor," said Harry, turning around and heading back to the Gryffindor table.

"What did she say?" asked Ron.

"We've got to go to her office when we need to leave," said Harry.

"Did she say she'd be able to get us into Azkaban?" asked Hermione.

"What did she say about Quidditch?" asked Ron, a little louder.

"Cancelled," said Harry, gloomily, "all year."

"What!" shouted Ron, "why the bloody hell would she do that?"

"Dunno," said Harry, "because there aren't enough people to play."

"Sure there are," said Ron, sounding frantic, "there are more than seven people in each house."

"It's very unfortunate that your Quidditch was cancelled," said Hermione, "but did McGonagall say she could get us in to see Mundungus?"

"Its not just any Quidditch season," said Ron, "It's our _last_ season!"

"She said she'd try," said Harry, "if she can't do it, how are we supposed to get in?"

"We can't get in unless we're allowed," said Ron, who seemed to be calming down after such a shock, "my dad told me all about Azkaban, it's impossible to break in."

"I wonder how Voldemort broke in so easily," said Hermione.

"Maybe we can get Scrimgeour to let us in," said Harry, "he'll do anything to get on my good side."

"I don't know if we should let Scrimgeour know what we're up to," said Hermione.

"Hang on," said Ron, "the prophet said that you were working with the ministry, what if we show up and say that we're on ministry business."

"Maybe," said Harry, "I dunno if they'd believe us though."

"The paper said that Harry's got aurors with him at all times, they'll know something is wrong," said Hermione.

"What if we ask Tonks to come with us," suggested Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry, "yeah, that might work."

"We ought to send her a letter straight away," said Hermione.

"We've got to go this weekend," said Harry, isn't there a quicker way of reaching her.

"Ron, your mum might know a way," said Hermione, "the Order has ways of reaching each other."

"Yeah, yeah I'll ask her, erm later," said Ron, clearly apprehensive about talking to Mrs. Weasley in front of the school.

"Ron," said Hermione.

"Alright, alright," said Ron, standing up, "Lets go ask her."

Harry and Hermione stood up and followed Ron to the staff table. Ron walked up to Mrs. Weasley, who was talking quietly with Kingsley, and said, "erm, mom, do you know where Tonks is?"

"Why?" Mrs. Weasley asked, suspiciously.

"We need to ask her a, a sort of favor," said Ron.

"Her and Remus are staying at headquarters," she said, "what favor do you need from her?"

"Oh, nothing really," he said, backing away slowly, "thanks mum."

They walked to the entrance hall and headed back up towards Gryffindor tower.

"If she's at Grimmauld Place then we can talk through the fire in the common room," said Harry.

"We'll have to wait til tonight, though," said Hermione, "we can't do it while people are in the common room. Besides, we've got class, it's only the second day, we can't miss class on the second day."

"Yeah, I reckon your right Hermione," said Harry, "we should wait til tonight."

"We should skive off class anyway," said Ron, "it's our last year."

"It's also our N.E.W.T. year," said Hermione, seriously, "this is going to be the hardest year we've had."

As they weathered another day of lessons, Harry found that Hermione could not have been more right. They were receiving more homework than they had ever had to deal with. Flitwick, who using gave very simple assignments, had asked them to write three rolls of parchment on binding spells. Their new Transfiguration teacher, Professor Diggle, had given them a lot of complicated notes to copy down and assigned them the first four chapters of _The Standard Book of Spells_. Harry was glad at the chance to rest in the common room while he waited for it to empty. While Hermione sat at a table, with four books spread out in front of her, and Ron gloomily trimmed the tail of his broomstick; Harry sat in an armchair by the fire, slowly drifting to sleep.

Several hours later, Harry opened his eyes, he had fallen to sleep with his glasses on. Looking around he saw that the common room was empty, and Ron and Hermione were sitting on a couch talking. Harry noticed that they were sitting rather close to each other, their hands almost touching. Ron's face looked a bit redder than usual and Hermione seemed to be smiling excessively.

"Looks like we can talk to Tonks now," said Harry, standing up suddenly.

"Oh," said Ron, his face turning a deeper shade of red, "Um, yeah I guess we can."

Harry knelt down beside the fire, took a small pinch of floo powder, and threw it into the fire. "Twelve Grimmauld Place," he said, sticking his head in the fire.

After a brief cyclone of flame, his head appeared in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, "Tonks! Lupin!" he shouted.

Tonks came running in from the dining room, followed closely by Lupin. They both looked extremely concerned as they hurriedly ran to the fire.

"What's wrong?" asked Lupin, worriedly.

"Don't worry," said Harry quickly, "everything's fine. I just needed to ask Tonks something."

"What's up Harry?" she asked.

"Well, I sort of need your, your help with something," Harry paused, not sure how to ask her without revealing why they needed to talk to Mundungus, "I wanted to go to Azkaban to talk to Mundungus, I thought you might be able to get me in."

"Why do you need to talk to him?" asked Tonks.

"It's about all the stuff he stole from this house," said Harry, which was true, "I want to find out what he did with it."

"I don't know if I can get into Azkaban, Harry, that wouldn't be too easy," said Tonks, but at that, Lupin pulled her to the side of the fire and spoke to her quietly, once they had turned back Tonks said, "You can meet us here and we'll go to Azkaban together."

"Okay," said Harry brightly, "can we leave tomorrow?"

"Alright," said Tonks, who was looking at Harry in a concerned way.

"Thanks" said Harry, pulling his head back into the fire and reappearing, attached to his body, in the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Hermione sat eagerly by the fire, waiting for him to reappear. After Harry had told them what Tonks and Lupin had said, they sat by the fire, discussing their trip to Azkaban.

"At least the Dementors are gone," said Ron, "that place sounded horrible with them there."

"They were under the ministry's control then," said Hermione, "now that they're taking orders from Voldemort, who knows what he'll make them do."

"Voldemort will have a lot more dangerous things than Dementors," said Harry.

"With any luck, we wont have to deal with any of them to get the locket," said Hermione.

"_If_ Mundungus stole it," said Harry, "and _if_ he remembers what he did with it."

Harry was anxious during the next day's classes. He had dreamt of Azkaban, although he had never been there. He traveled down a long line of cells, occasionally stopping to gaze in at the prisoners. Hagrid loomed in the corner of a cell, his head touching the ceiling. Sirius, who was transformed into the black dog, was curled in a circle on the floor. Lucius Malfoy sat against the wall of his cell, muttering incoherently.

At six o'clock; Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked to the stone gargoyle and spoke the password they had been given. The gargoyle slid aside and they ascended the stairs to their Headmistress' office.

"Come in," spoke Professor McGonagall, after Harry had knocked.

"She sat at her desk, shuffling through sheets of parchment. She had a fire crackling in the gate.

"Good evening," she said, "I believe you need to go to Grimmauld Place."

Harry nodded, he was not surprised that she had known. Professor McGonagall stood up and walked slowly to the fire, holding up a bowl of floo powder, "Good luck," she said, as Harry took a handful.

"With a look at Dumbledore's painting, which smiled brightly at him, he stepped into the fire.

"Lupin? Tonks?" Harry called, walking through the kitchen. He pushed open the door to the dining room as Hermione stumbled out of the grate. Lupin and Tonks were sitting at the table, they smiled when he walked through the door.

"Hello, Harry," said Lupin.

"Ready to go then, Harry?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah," said Harry, "I guess."

"How are we getting there?" asked Ron; who had walked into the room with Hermione.

"The ministry has set up a portkey for me," said Tonks, "I've been given permission to interrogate Mundungus."

"The ministry doesn't know we're going with you, do they?" asked Hermione.

"No, it won't be a problem if you show up with me," said Tonks.

"Where is the portkey set up?" Harry asked.

"Not too far, you can apparate there," said Lupin.

"We should head out now," said Tonks, "the portkey is scheduled to leave soon."

"Good luck," said Lupin, with the same expression McGonagall wore when she had said it.

Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Tonks out of the doors of the old house, and onto Grimmauld Place. They walked for several blocks before she pointed down a long street at a shabby building. Focusing on the destination, which was about five hundred yards away, the four of them apparated down the street; reappearing at the doors of the building.

"Right, we're looking for a tin can," said Tonks, scanning the alley by the building. Hermione spotted it behind a few shopping bags and they all huddled around it. After about a minute, Tonks said that it was time and they all touched a part of the can. Harry's navel felt a sharp hook and they were spinning away from the alley. As Harry's finger remained glued to the can, they spun in a vortex of air until finally hitting the ground.

They were outside a large rundown train station, positioned only a hundred yards from the coastline. Although the windows and doors were boarded up, the station did not seem to be damaged in any way. On the contrary, it seemed to be built out of solid concrete. They walked up to the main door, which was blocked up by one enormous piece of wood. Tonks knocked twice on the door, calling aloud, "I am auror Nymphadora Tonks, here to see prisoner Mundungus Fletcher."

"Auror!" cried a shrill voice from within, "Come, quick, quick."

Tonks motioned forward to the three of them, then stepped through the wood; Harry, Ron and Hermione followed. Harry had not expected such a large crowd to be on the other side. Almost two dozen wizards were filing hurriedly toward a silver train, which lay on the tracks, horn blowing rapidly. The wizards had their wands out, and they were picking up light cloaks from a stern looking man.

"What's going on," Tonks asked the man at the entrance.

"Death Eaters," he cried in a panicked voice, "broke in about ten minutes ago, they're at the prison now."

"Let's go," said Harry, pulling out his wand.

"You three have to apparate back," said Tonks, who had also pulled her wand out.

"We have to help," said Ron.

"It's not your fight, you have to be kept safe," said Tonks.

"We're members of the order, this is what we swore to do when we were brought in," said Harry.

"We still must talk to Mundungus," whispered Hermione, over Harry's right shoulder.

"Right," said the security wizard, "you four get on the next train over."

They hurried toward the group of wizards near the train.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"I'm an auror," said Tonks, "we're here to help."

"You better get a defense cloak," said gangly looking wizard.

Harry looked down at a pile of cloaks on a table in front of them. With a closer look he realized that they were the cloaks Fred and George had made in their shop. He took one that looked the proper size, and pulled it on over his shirt. Once Ron, Hermione and Tonks had done the same, they moved their way to the entrance of the train and boarded.

Once another half dozen wizards had climbed into their car, the doors closed and the train sped off. One of the guards who had boarded the train with them stepped up to Harry and said, "Harry Potter, my name is Fenwick. We are grateful for you and your friends assistance."

"Er, thanks," said Harry, awkwardly. Fenwick was a large, tough looking Wizard, with dark patchy hair.

Harry didn't notice how fast the train was going, he was too focused on the death eaters that were in the prison. How many of them had come? Was Voldemort with them? The train came to a halt and they ran out quickly. They had resurfaced on an enormous island; looking around, Harry could not see the shore they had came from.

The prison, Azkaban, was a huge stone building with high walls. Harry was reminded of an ancient castle, with towers at each corner. There was a door that seemed to be made of the same stone as the walls, it was slid open, ready for them. They followed the Azkaban guards through the entrance and met two hooded figures at the door.

The death eaters aimed jinxes at the first two guards through the entrance, knocking them off to the side. The taller death eater sent another flash of red light toward a guard, who blocked it. Harry moved forward, aiming his wand at the death eater, and shouted, "Stupefy."

He fell over, unconscious, as the other death eater darted around a corner, aiming a spell over his shoulder and hitting another guard. The wizard, Fenwick, ran around the corner after him, was hit by a jinx that bounced off his cloak, and hit the death eater with a disarming spell.

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Hermione, who had been second around the corner.

"Where are the others?" Fenwick shouted at him.

"Its no use," sneered the binded death eater from the floor, "you can't stop us."

"We'll see about that," he said, getting up.

"Do you know where Mundungus Fletcher's cell is?" Harry asked him.

"They've got a list of cells up here on the left," said Fenwick, leading the way.

When the turned the corner they saw a large board which appeared to have several signs torn off, "They've got them," he said, "They took the lists."

"We've got to find them," said Ron.

At that moment, they heard a loud explosion from somewhere to the right of them. Harry sped after the noise, with Ron, Hermione, Tonks, and half a dozen guards following. With another right, and then another left, they slowed down as they began to hear voices. Creeping to a stop at the end of a corridor, Harry listened around the corner.

"Welcome out, Lucius," said a cold voice that made Harry's blood run.

"Draco," exclaimed Lucius. Harry peered around the corner to see Snape standing next to Malfoy, who was pulling up his left sleeve to show his father the mark burned onto his forearm. Upon seeing the Dark Mark, Draco's father embraced him briefly. Malfoy had several lists in his hand.

Harry leaped out from behind the wall, aiming a jinx at Snape.

"Potter!" Snape cried, blocking Harry's jinx with a wave of his wand.

"Expelliarmus," Ron shouted, turning the corner and aiming his wand at Malfoy.

Ron's spell hit Malfoy, who went flying through the air, dropping his wand, and the lists. Malfoy's wand landed in front of Lucius, who seemed too weak to pick it up. Hermione yelled, "Accio," causing the lists to fly into her hand. As Harry aimed jinxes at Snape, Malfoy picked up his wand and started firing hexes back down the corridor towards them. The Azkaban guards jumped in front of Harry and Ron, running towards Snape and Lucius and Draco Malfoy.

"Harry, Mundungus is back this way," said Hermione, pulling at his arm as he shot another jinx at Snape.

"They can handle those three," said Ron, who had stopped sending spells toward them, "we've got to talk to him."

"We can't let him get away," shouted Harry, who was still watching Snape, who had already sent one of the guards to the ground, "he killed Dumbledore!"

"We'll get another chance," said Hermione, "we don't know how many of them are here, we've got to get to Mundungus."

"Right," said Harry, still not turning away from the fight, but backing up slightly, "right, let's go."

They sprinted away from the battle, following Hermione to the left. Down another corridor and a set of stairs, they reached a long row of cells. They ran down the hall, looking into the cells as they passed. Some lay in a pile in their cells, those that had heard the noises from the battle were propped up weakly against their bars, some stared amazed at Harry. Finally, Hermione stopped and they gazed inside the cell she was in front of. There was an unrecognizable lump in the middle of the room.

"Mundungus," shouted Harry.

The lump gave a shake and rose slightly, "Who's that?" it called.

"Harry," he said, loudly.

"Harry!" Mundungus cried, pulling the rags off him and standing up, "Harry, have you come to break me out? They haven't even given me a trial!"

He looked terrible, his face gaunt and dark. His normally untidy hair was absolutely filthy, with patches falling out. He seemed to be covered in dirt, and was wearing moldy rags that smelled as if he had not moved in weeks.

"Mundungus," said Harry, firmly, "you need to tell me if you ever took a golden locket with an 'S' on it from Sirius' house."

"I'm right sorry about all that, Harry," said Mundungus, in a weak voice "you'll still get me out of here, right?"

"The locket," said Hermione.

"Now you mention it," said Dung, thinking hard, "I almost sold a gold locket to some bloke in Diagon Alley."

"Did you sell it to someone," asked Ron.

"No," he said, regretfully, "it was with me when I got brought here."

"Is it still here?" asked Harry, hopefully.

"It'll be at the ministry, they keep everything in a locked section," said Mundungus.

"Your sure its there?" asked Hermione, "your sure it was the same locket."

"Gold one, heavy, yep, it had that 'S' on it alright," said Mundungus, "now how about some help here."

"We, we can't," said Hermione, "it's not right."

"It's not right I'm in here," said Mundungus, "it's the corrupt ministry at work."

"If we let you out now," said Harry, "the ministry will think you left with the Death Eaters."

"Death Eaters?" asked Mundungus, obliviously.

"They've broke into Azkaban," said Ron, "they're breaking out all the Death Eaters."

"I can't be here with Death Eaters around," said Mundungus, with a terrified look down the hall.

"You'll be fine," said Harry, "we've got to go find the others."

"Thanks, Dung," said Ron, as they turned to leave.

"Were did Tonks go?" asked Hermione.

"Lets check back at Lucius' cell," said Harry, running back the way they came.

When they reached the broken cell door, they saw that Snape and the Malfoy's had moved on. Two guards lay unconscious on the ground, Harry guessed that they must have headed down the far hallway. They raced down the corridor for a few minutes before they heard voices again. It was not the fierce cries of a battle though, the voices were lighter. Rounding a corner they saw Tonks and several guards, all of which seemed to be nursing injuries. Tonks had a small cut across her cheek and a slightly fat lip.

"They're still inside," said Tonks, "we're blocking the exit."

"How many of them are there?" asked Hermione.

"About half a dozen, plus all the prisoners they've freed," replied Tonks.

"Is there any other way out?" Harry asked.

"There's no other way back to the shore," said Fenwick, who had a welt on his arm, "but we've shut down the train."

"How do they expect to get out?" Ron questioned the wizard.

"We can't wait for them here, they might be finding another way right now," said Harry, moving down the corridor, "we've got to find them."

"I will assist you," said Fenwick, stepping forward.

"Er, okay," said Harry, who had liked the wizard so far, "Lets go."

"I'll stay to guard the entrance," said Tonks, "there aren't many left."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Fenwick raced down the corridor, listening for any sound of the Death Eaters.

"They have broken through," Harry heard Snape shout, "Lets go."

"The passage to the towers," cried Fenwick, "they managed to break the spells that close it."

They turned the corner and saw Snape, Malfoy, and several other Death Eaters leading the freed prisoners up a flight of stairs.

"Snape!" cried Harry, sending a non-verbal spell at him.

"You've been practicing, Potter," said Snape, slamming Harry into a wall with a flick of his wand.

Last around the corner, Fenwick sent a stunning spell at the tallest Death Eater, causing him to crumple in a pile. Snape sent a hex flying at Fenwick, who still had his wand pointed at the fallen Death Eater, but Hermione stepped in front of him shouting, "Protego."

Snape's blocked hex bounced back at the Death Eaters, sending one of them to the floor, "Reducto!" cried Snape, causing the stone ceiling to cave in on them.

Harry dove out of the way and heard Snape call, "Grab Avery and move."

"Reducto," Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the wall of rock in front of him. A few of the rocks were reduced to rubble, but the pile still blocked their way, "Reducto, Reducto!" More rocks were blasted apart, but it was no use.

Snape had gotten away, and they had gotten more Death Eaters out of Azkaban. He was no closer to finding the horcruxes, and Voldemort had more of his servants loose on the world.


End file.
